Man dies after jump from bridge

An unidentified man died Friday evening when he jumped into the Spokane River from the Post Street Bridge.

Fire Department Battalion Chief Dan Brown said the man appeared to be in his early 30s to his mid-40s. He was white.

Soon after the incident was reported at 5:25 p.m., the man was seen going over the lower falls at the Monroe Street Bridge. Fire crews and police officers fanned out along the river and kept track of the man as he was swept rapidly downstream by a spring runoff flow of 16,000 cubic feet per minute.

The Fire Department’s water rescue team launched its boat and plucked the man from the river 31 minutes after he jumped. The team was guided by a Medstar helicopter, which hovered over the victim in the middle of the river, near the Sans Souci mobile home park at the west end of Boone Avenue.

An ambulance crew attempted to revive the man, but he was pronounced dead at Deaconess Medical Center.

The water was so cold that the man’s chances of survival were poor, Brown said.

– John Craig

State suspends nurse’s licenses

The state has suspended the licenses of a Spokane-area nurse who pleaded guilty in 2004 to second-degree child rape after admitting to having sex with two 12-year-old boys.

Therisa Carlson, 38, a registered and licensed practical nurse, has not been allowed to practice since February, when the state Department of Health and the Nursing Commission suspended her license after learning of the conviction.

Her licenses are now revoked for 10 years.

According to court records, Carlson had sex with the boys in September 2000. Spokane County Superior Court Judge Kathleen O’Connor gave Carlson a suspended sentence of from 78 to 102 days and ordered her to undergo outpatient treatment while in community custody.

Carlson had no prior convictions.

– Kevin Graman