On bridge over York County’s busiest highway, deputy pleads for man to not jump.
The Gold Hill Road bridge over Interstate 77 near Fort Mill soars above the busiest stretch of highway in York County. During the afternoon rush hour, just a short distance from Charlotte, the highway is packed with southbound traffic.
Monday before 4:30 p.m., Sheriff’s Deputy James Skonicki rushed to the bridge and convinced a man to not leap from the span onto the highway below, York County Sheriff Kevin Tolson said.
Skonicki is a former Winthrop University soccer player who was captain and one of the mainstays of the 2015 Big South conference title team.
Skonicki found the man, crying, on the bridge ledge after several people called 911 to report that a person was on the bridge during the afternoon commute, a sheriff’s office incident report showed.
In any given day, as many as 100,000 vehicles pass under that bridge on I-77, South Carolina traffic statistics show.
The man on the bridge told Skonicki he did not want to live, the report said. But Skonicki talked the man into stepping off the ledge.
“Deputy Skonicki pleaded with the man not to do it and step away from the ledge,” the report stated.
The man did not jump.
Emergency Medical Services personnel were notified and took the man to a nearby emergency room, the report stated. Skonicki was not yet done. He escorted the ambulance to the hospital.
The Herald is not identifying the man on the bridge.
“Our job is to help people,” Tolson told The Herald Tuesday. “So many people need help. Our primary goal is to get people the help they need. I am thankful we were able to provide that help and our prayers are with this person.”
Past rescues by law enforcement officers
In recent years, police in York County and Rock Hill have saved people who threatened to jump off bridges on I-77 or into the Catawba River. Deputies prevented leaps in 2017 and 2019, and in 2019 Rock Hill police kept a man from jumping from an I-77 bridge at Dave Lyle Boulevard. In 2018, Rock Hill police rescued a man who was trying to commit suicide live on Facebook.
Tolson said the de-escalation effort worked Monday and praised Skonicki and other deputies who arrived at the scene and worked to help the man.
Deputy played soccer at Winthrop
Skonicki is a 28-year-old deputy who has been on patrol for about three years, Tolson said.
He played for the Winthrop soccer team at the Rock Hill school from 2013 to 2016, said Brett Redden, an associate athletic direct for Winthrop. Skonicki, originally from Florida, was a starter and one of the top players on Winthrop’s 2015 Big South Conference championship team. He majored in exercise science at the school then joined the sheriff’s office after college.
Skonicki’s two older brothers also were soccer players at Winthrop.
All three brothers were quality young men with leadership qualities both on and off the field, said former Winthrop soccer coach Rich Posipanko. Posinpanko has known James Skonicki since Skonicki was a child.
Posapinko said Skonicki was in the right place at the right time to help a person who needed it.
“It does not surprise me that James acted this way to help someone,” Posipanko said.
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This story was originally published June 13, 2023 at 3:18 PM.
