YORKTOWN, Va. – A Navy security boat crew rescued a man clinging to a buoy after he jumped from the Coleman Bridge over the York River Monday morning.
Rescued was Matthew Leccadito, 20.
A York County Dispach operator notified the Coast Guard at 12:35 a.m. that witnesses on the bridge had seen a man jump into the water. The Coast Guard then issued an urgent maritime information broadcast to mariners.
A 25-foot rescue boat crew from Station Milford Haven searched through the night and into the morning, along with an MH-60J Jayhawk rescue helicopter crew from Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C., and boat crews from the York County and Gloucester County police departments, and the Virginia Marine Resources Commission.
A Navy harbor security boat crew from Naval Weapons Station Yorktown was transiting the river en route to refuel when they saw the man clinging to a buoy between the Coleman Bridge and Wormley Creek, according to Mark Piggett, public affairs officer at the weapons station. They recovered him from the water, bruised and stung by jellyfish, and brought him to Coast Guard Training Center Yorktown where he was transferred to awaiting emergency medical personnel who examined and released him.
“We appreciate the Navy’s assistance and we are glad they located and rescued the man clinging to the buoy,” said Jeff Fox, a search-and-rescue controller at Sector Hampton Roads.
