‘Do something else,’ the Sheriff’s Office cautions
Looking south from Bakers Bridge, the Animas River flows toward Durango in this 30-second time-exposure photograph. A man was swept away by the current Friday after jumping into the river.
A drunken man who jumped from Bakers Bridge was swept down the Animas River shortly before 11 a.m. Friday.
The people he was with called 911 after he disappeared beneath the water for eight minutes, said Sgt. Jeff Blevans with La Plata County Sheriff’s Office.
About 10 minutes after the 911 call, the 30-year-old man was found on the bank near a campground a short distance downstream, he said.
“They didn’t see him because the river is running so fast. He’s lucky he made it out,” Blevans said.
Blevans advises against playing in the river right now because it is full of debris washed into the river from recent rain.
“Do something else until the water has calmed down a bit,” he said.
mshinn@durangoherald.com
