Off-duty Petersburg police officer who was in the right place at the right time rescued man

PETERSBURG — An off-duty Petersburg police officer who was in the right place at the right time rescued a man who jumped off the Martin Luther King Jr. Bridge into the Appomattox River Friday afternoon.

Officer Christopher Ayers was driving across the bridge from Colonial Heights to Petersburg about 1:40 p.m. on July 14 when he saw a 63-year-old man in a wheelchair on the bridge’s eastern sidewalk pull himself out of the wheelchair and throw himself over the side of the railing, according to Lt. Emanuel Chambliss of the Petersburg Bureau of Police.

Ayers called dispatch before responding to the scene beneath the bridge, where he saw the man in the Appomattox River. He and Colonial Heights Officer Mike Kelley, who arrived on scene in response to a 1:42 p.m. call, were able to pull the man out of the water.

The jumper was transported to Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center with a possible broken hip and femur but is alive, Chambliss confirmed.

Authorities have not released the name of the jumper.

• Sarah Vogelsong may be reached at svogelsong@progress-index.com or 804-722-5154.