Pico Rivera

Pico Rivera Deputies Save Suicidal Girl Threatening to Jump From Bridge

Dashcam video captures the moment when the deputies grab the girl and pull her to safety

Two Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputies are being praised after saving a suicidal teen threatening to jump off a bridge.

The two Pico Rivera Sheriff's Station deputies saved the teen when they pulled her off the edge of a railroad bridge near the intersection of Rivera Road and Passons Boulevard, from which she was threatening to jump.

"I do feel that once we had her detained that she was relieved, just relieved that it was over. You could hear it in her voice," said Deputy Brandon Longoria, who along with fellow Deputy Michael Stocz grabbed the girl and pulled her to safety.

The teen was distraught, partially because of the death of a friend, when she stood on the edge of the bridge and threatened to jump to the ground 25 feet below, Stocz said.

"We tried to make some kind of dialogue with her," said Stocz, who had previously taken a 40-hour crisis intervention course.

The deputies were within 25 feet of the girl when she took a folded piece of paper - which they believe was a suicide note - out of her pocket and threw it to the ground, Stocz said.

As they continued dialogue with her, the deputies got closer and asked if they could read the note. Once Stocz was close enough, he said, he saw that the teen was "still focused on possibly jumping," so he took the opportunity to grab her by the arms.

An officer's dashcam video shows the girl's body go limp as Stocz hangs on and Longoria jumps in to help pull her over the edge.

"You could just feel that she was just thankful we were there just to help her and have someone to listen to her," Longoria said, adding that a supervising sergeant and three partners had a role in "making this a positive outcome."

"We had a good outcome, so we were happy about that," Stocz said. "We just hope that the young girl gets some help."

The National Suicide Prevention Hotline (1-800-273-8255) is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Text HOME to 741741 for a Crisis Text Line.

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