A Jacksonville man was rescued from the St. Johns River after jumping off the Buckman Bridge to avoid a traffic accident Monday night.

Damien Hadley, 38, was on the bridge shortly before 9 p.m. near a broken-down Cadillac sedan when a Honda Civic barreled toward him, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Hadley jumped over the bridge to avoid being hit.

The Civic's driver, 30-year-old Leigha Ignelzi of Jacksonville, had lost control of her car and veered into the concrete barrier wall and then hit the Cadillac from behind, the Highway Patrol said.

First responders from the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department were able to rescue Hadley, who the FHP reported was uninjured.

Ignelzi received minor injuries and was cited with careless driving, according to the crash report. Court records show she also had a careless-driving ticket last July.

Bill Bortzfield

Woman injured when

pallet falls on her

A woman working in the SSA Cooper paper warehouse at 5050 Propeller Way at the Blount Island marine terminal was seriously injured Tuesday when a pallet fell on her, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

The woman, who has not been identified, was pinned to the ground when a pallet of paper collapsed about 8:50 a.m.

City paramedics transported her to a hospital with what were described as life-threatening injuries, but no more information was available on the cause of the accident.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been notified and will conduct a separate investigation, the Sheriff's Office said.

According to the SSA Cooper website, the company handles stevedoring services in Wilmington and Morehead City, N.C.; Charleston and Georgetown, S.C.; Savannah and Brunswick, Ga.; and Jacksonville.

Dan Scanlan