Video shows man diving off 55ft bridge to escape police after high speed chase

Deputies said suspect was arrested, although ‘he may not have earned a gold medal for his high dive’

A high-speed police chase in Lee County, Florida, ended with a driver diving from a 55ft (17m) high bridge to evade arrest, according to helicopter footage.

Deputies had been attempting to stop Bryan Gray, 34, from driving a stolen van last week when he was pursued down Edison Bridge, in Fort Myers.

Footage captured by a helicopter showed Mr Gray’s van crashing into the right-hand barrier and again crashing into the barrier on the left of the bridge, which is 55ft (17m) high.

A dispatcher could be heard telling colleagues: “Ohhh ... it’s crashed on the bridge, right now, it crashed on the bridge”.

A man, apparently Mr Gray, was filmed running from the van and towards the barrier of the Edison Bridge, which he dived off – abandoning the allegedly stolen van.

First responders from Fort Myers Police Department’s (FMPD) marine unit arrived on the scene to pull Mr Gray from the Caloosahatchee River.

He was arrested and transferred to hospital to receive treatment, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook update on Monday.

“While he may not have earned a gold medal for his high dive, Gray did find himself in hot water when he earned pending charges of Grand Theft Auto and Fleeing and Eluding”, it added.

Hundreds of Facebook users have shared the video of the high speed chase, with one user writing: “Good Job by all. But the judges only gave him a 4.5 score on the dive. He didn’t stick the landing!”