Man drowns in daredevil leap

A man drowned in the Spokane River Tuesday evening, after jumping off a rocky cliff near the Post Falls Dam.

Aaron L. Hayes, a 25-year-old Post Falls resident, was pulled from the bottom of the river shortly before 7 p.m. He was pronounced dead at Kootenai Medical Center.

Grief-stricken friends who witnessed Hayes’ jump described it as a daredevil leap.

The accident occurred downstream of the dam at Falls Park, a place that occasionally attracts cliff jumpers despite the risks. A chain-link fence with “Warning: Danger” signs runs along steep rock cliffs above the river to keep people away.

Hayes probably jumped a distance of 50 or 60 feet, said Sgt. Andy Boyle, who is part of the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Recreational Safety and Marine Division.

“The higher you go, the more solid the water is,” Boyle said.

Hayes may have been knocked unconscious from the impact of hitting the water, Boyle said. Or Hayes might have had limited swimming skills, he said.

Witnesses said Hayes surfaced once. He was in the water approximately 35 minutes.

“Aaron, Aaron, be OK man,” a sobbing Jonathan Steele choked out, as rescue workers loaded Hayes’ body into the ambulance. Steele described himself as a co-worker of Hayes’ at the White House Grill in Post Falls.

The afternoon started innocently enough, Steele and others who witnessed the jump said. A small group of friends and acquaintances met at Hayes’ house in Post Falls before heading over to Falls Park.

“We were just down here chilling,” said Tiffany Burt, who was dating one of Hayes’ friends.

A shaken Burt said no one in the group believed Hayes would really jump.

“We were all egging him on, saying ‘Jump. Do it,’ ” she said.

Hayes had jumped off the same rock in the past, Steele said. According to Steele, Hayes said, “I can do it again.”

“He jumped off the rock to prove it,” Steele said.