The Antelope Valley Times

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Updated: 79-year-old freeway jumper injured

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PALMDALE – A 79-year-old man sustained multiple fractures to his lower extremities Tuesday morning after jumping from the Avenue N bridge onto the 14 Freeway, authorities said.

The incident was reported around 7:37 a.m., according to a California Highway Patrol report.

“Preliminary information indicates Richard Labansat (79 years old) out of Palmdale drove his 2000 Toyota Camry to the Avenue N overcrossing at SR-14 and parked the vehicle,” the CHP report states. “Labansat then walked onto the Avenue N bridge and jumped onto the [northbound] lanes of SR-14 without hesitation.”

“Labansat landed on the acceleration lane of eastbound Avenue N to northbound SR-14,” the CHP report states.

Labansat was not struck by any of the vehicles traveling on the freeway, but he sustained multiple fractures to his lower extremities and was transported to Antelope Valley Hospital by AMR, according to the CHP report.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Palmdale Station responded and took over the investigation.

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UPDATED 10/15/14: Family members have reached out to The AV Times with more information about Richard Labansat. They say there are “many facets to this tragic event that were not mentioned and would lead people down the wrong path.” According to family members, Labansat had no history of depression or mental illness. He may have been suffering from side effects from medication or an undetermined medical cause. He had been having some yet to be diagnosed medical difficulties recently. Family members say Labansat has never tried to hurt himself before, and he is not mentally ill. They are in the process of determining the cause of the 79-year-old’s recent difficulties.

16 comments for "Updated: 79-year-old freeway jumper injured"

  1. This IS a good and generous man, I know. Judging a person does not define who they are… it defines who YOU are. Please, take a step back – there is a bigger picture that you, nor I, can comprehend. Many Blessings and LOVE to him, and his family! XxxOoo

  3. I too witnessed this man on top of the freeway as he was getting ready to jump. It shook me up terribly. I am grateful i didnt witness him jumping as im sure i missed it by seconds. It is a miracle he wasnt hit by the busy traffic!!! Hopefully he will get some therapy and be put on some meds that can stable him out as it really shook up kids and adults who witnessed it! And those images and pictures im sure will remain with everyone forever!

  4. I too witnessed the man taking the jump onto the freeway. I got off at Ave N to take my son to school. We made a left turn heading towards Paraclete High School. My son spotted him immediately and was frantic while he was telling me that this man was about to jump. As we were passing he jumped. My 16 year old son was so upset and began to cry. I was asking him if he were sure that the man had jumped. He was crying saying yes. I looked in my rear view mirror and saw that cars had stopped. My son thought the man had died. I called my husband in the car and he told me to walk my son into the office and tell them that he needs to see a counselor, which I did. After that I drove back by to confirm what my son had seen. I pulled over to talk with one of the CHP officers. I was told that he did in fact jump. Later, my husband told me that the man survived. My son is still a little sad by what he experienced. The good thing for me is today my son said he was no longer going to listen to negative music because he didn’t want anything negative feeding his spirit. He wasn’t sure what caused the man to jump but it made him think.

  5. I went to a book signing once. The author was just nasty as could be to me so I got my book signed, stuck around awhile, realized that the people there were about as weird as I’ve ever seen.. The book and author was from hell I guess… So I left, I’m walking across the parking lot to my car and right out of the blue I have an overwhelming desired to die! Something from hell just jumped me! I remember thinking it over; why I should die, I had a church, job I loved, family, dogs, car, mortgage(s) LOL, health was fine… I remember driving away and thinking “I sure hope this wears off sometime soon because I surely am not about to kill myself”. It just faded away while I drove home. Perhaps if I wasn’t in a good state of being I’d have run headlong into traffic or something? Devils fool people, oppress them, etc. One guy jumped off a bridge and survived. He said that the moment his hand left the rail, the moment there was no turning back, he had an overwhelming desire to live! My interpretation of that is that the devils’ work was done, they just dialed back the oppression and let him see what a big mistake they had brought him to. They probably were loving it.

  6. Very sad. Glad there was an update. My 21 year old daughter happen to see it happen as she drove to work. She was very shaken up and felt horrible.

    As far as the AV being bad? No, If we had no news, TV or radio it we’d never know. I am new to the AV and love it here.

  7. Very sad when this is a way someone tries to end their life. He must feel very lonely or perhaps, has been diagnosed with a illness and doesn’t want to burden loved ones. Makes The Right to Die Law in Oregon look very humane.

  8. I think if this person was a member of your family you would not make the remarks you have made here. You have to realize, that someone has to be in an extreme state of mind to do something like this. You are speaking as though a rational person were just jumping into traffic without caring about the drivers. Really think about what would cause a person to do this and know they would not be worrying about the drivers or anything else…This was a serious and tragic incident. I am actually surprised the details of a CHP report were printed, releasing personal information about this man, who happens to be a member of my family, and could have been a member of yours.

    • I’m so sorry this happened. I always think it’s sad when someone has no hope at that moment. Suicide is a permanent solution to temporary problem. I am praying for your family member.

  12. Good gracious, this is just horrible. What is happening in this valley? Who is giving out the kool-aid to these people? I realize with the growing population in the AV that there are going to be more accidents, deaths, hit and runs, murders, etc….but too many in one or two weeks is just too many. Idiots beating their babies to death, stranglers in the road being hit and killed, and now someone who is old enough to know better, jumping into traffic on a freeway. If you want to kill yourself, why burden someone driving down the road who may help you to achieve that goal? That person will have to live with that vision forever that is if they are not injured or killed just from hitting you at a high rate of speed. I hope his family gets him some help since he lived and will be hurting for a long time.

    • @Anna
      Nothing’s changed.

      When I first moved here in 1990, the front page the Valley Press had a article about some guy they called the ‘toe sucker’.

      A while later, there was an article about a guy that stomped a kitten to death.

      I remember those because it seemed weird to have those article’s on the front page of the local newspaper. What kind of place was this?

      For those of you who think the Antelope Valley was a paradise way back when, that must have been 100 years ago.

      • pre 1990’s it helps that this area is an “affordable” place so we are right out side of A large city Los Angeles and it follows the sweeping changes made to the mental health system under Reagan by the way, we are the forgotten part of Los angels county. It was better early 60’s and before.

    • Years ago I was the adjuster on a claim for an accident where the jumper landed on this man’s car. You are right, he has this horrific vision that I am sure has changed his life in many ways.