‘Life’s hard; we don’t know what people are going through’: Heroes save woman on bridge
By Angela Rozier
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RIVIERA BEACH, Florida (WPBF) — We are hearing from the Riviera Beach Police captain and good Samaritans who helped keep a woman from jumping off a bridge last week.
Captain Melvin Menard was the closest unit to the scene that day.
“I responded on scene, and I saw a female sitting on the rails of the bridge,” Menard said.
The incident was captured on body camera footage. Menard says that when he arrived, he saw good Samaritans speaking to the woman, trying to keep her calm.
Rafael Ramset was one of the good Samaritans.
“Every time I would say something, it looked like she was praying or crossing her heart, like she was just getting ready to just go ahead and just jump,” Ramsey said.
He dialed 911.
Sharifa Sloane also saw the woman on the bridge.
“It was just traumatizing to see something like that, you know, actually happen,” Sloane said.
She didn’t hesitate to help.
“I immediately made a U-turn and pleaded with her to come talk,” Sloane said.
By this time, Captain Menard was right there.
“I approached as I saw the citizens speaking to her, keeping her calm,” Menard said. “Just tactfully went over the barrier and just gently put my arms around her and brought her down gently and safely, and told her everything is going to be okay, we’re going to get her the help that she needs.”
He described what was going through his mind when he saw her sitting on the bridge.
“Life’s hard; we don’t know what people are going through these days,” Menard said. “My main concern was just not, you know, let her take her own life.”
The good Samaritans were recognized by the police chief and staff Tuesday. They are thankful everything worked out, and the captain stresses that this was a group effort.
“The real hero here is going to be the bystanders, the citizens that stopped,” Menard said. “I’m going to say the citizens that stopped to help her, and the composure from one of our operators, Latasha Lockett, she did a great job keeping the citizen on the line, and it just bought us enough time for me to arrive.”
Police said the woman was transported to a hospital for evaluation.
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