Fleeing Suspect Tells Police Officer 'Bye,' Jumps Head-First Off Bridge

And he lived. According to reports out of Pearl, Mississippi, a police officer in an unmarked police vehicle was at a stop light behind a Nissan Altima when the car spun out and turned sideways in the intersection. When the officer turned on his sirens, the Altima began running stop lights and got on Interstate 20. When they crossed over the Pearl River bridge, the fleeing vehicle took the State Street exit, which has a sharp curve, and hit the guardrail.

[Detective John Johnson] got out and drew his weapon and the driver, identified as Romello Shance James, 20, jumped over the railing, paused long enough to smile and say, "Bye," and then jumped headfirst off the bridge. When Johnson looked over the railing to the ground below, he could see the suspect, who was not moving after hitting several trees on the way down. "We knew no one would survive that fall," McGairty said. Backup arrived and they began to approach James. James then jumped up and began to run from them, leading officers through a large drainage culvert. McGairty said officers lost radio reception as they went through the tunnel, and eventually lost sight of the suspect. Another Pearl officer was on I-20 east and was right at the Rankin County line on the bank of the Pearl River when James saw him first and tackled him. McGairty said James was trying to wrestle that officer's weapon away from him. When backup arrived, they were able to stun the suspect with a Taser, which didn't subdue him. The officers had to overpower him to get the handcuffs on him. Shell casings were found in James' vehicle, but a gun was not found. Results of a gunshot residue test showed that James had recently fired a weapon. James refused medical treatment at the scene, but later was hospitalized locally with minor injuries. James will be charged on felony fleeing and other pending charges when he is released from the hospital, McGairty said.

source: The Clarion-Ledger

There were four other people inside Altima. They were released with no charges.