MARIPOSA COUNTY — A section of State Highway 49 South was shut down yesterday, Wednesday, Dec. 16, for a reported elderly suicidal subject on the William Sell Bridge between Oakhurst and Mariposa.
Mariposa County Sheriff’s deputies along with CHP and Fire/EMS, responded to the area and located a Mariposa man standing on the outer edge of the guardrail on the bridge, hundreds of feet above the ground.
Deputies engaged the man in conversation, attempting to negotiate him back over the guardrail on his own. The man continued to move closer to the edge of the bridge. While the man was distracted, three deputies were able to rush and grab him pulling him to safety.
The uninjured man, apparently suffering from dementia was transported to a local hospital for evaluation and was eventually released to the Mariposa County Adult Protective Services unit.
