The Orange County Criminal Lawyer Blog
A girl was caught on video when she pushed her friend off of a bridge in Washington in August, and she is now facing criminal charges.
On August 7, a group of friends gathered at Moulton Falls at a bridge that people have jumped off for fun for quite some time, though it is not legal to do so. When one of the people in the group decided to jump from the bridge into the water below another one of the people in the party, 16-year-old Jordan Holgerson, said that she would like to jump as well.
Holgerson stated that she felt nervous about jumping from the 60-foot drop into the water and one of her friends, 18-year-old Tay’Lor Smith, offered to assist her with a shove.
In a video, which went viral very quickly once it hit the internet, Holgerson is seen walking to the edge of the bridge with Smith behind her. Smith began counting backward from 3 to give Holgerson warning of when to expect the push, but Holgerson stated that the counting made her more afraid.
Smith is then seen shoving Holgerson off of the bridge platform. When Holgerson hit the water she was reported as having suffered punctured lungs and five broken ribs from the impact.
Smith was arraigned and charged with reckless endangerment, and she entered a plea of not guilty.
Holgerson gave an interview regarding the incident and said that when she was standing at the edge of the bridge and Smith was counting down she didn’t think that anything was going to happen.
When she gave a statement regarding the charges on Good Morning America, Smith said that Holgerson asked her to push her off of the bridge since she was too afraid to go through with it on her own. She additionally stated that after the incident she initiated communication with Holgerson online a few times and the exchanges were friendly until Holgerson stopped replying altogether. Smith said that she did not have any harmful intentions in her actions.
Smith is not incarcerated, but she has been prohibited from contacting Holgerson in any way. She is scheduled to appear in court regarding the charges in December.
If you or someone you love is suspected of reckless endangerment, contact Orange County criminal defense lawyer Staycie R. Sena at (949) 477-8088 for a consultation now.