WATERVILLE — A woman who jumped off the Two Cent Bridge on Tuesday, leading two teenaged boys to make a rescue attempt, was drunk, according to police.
Kassey Corbin, 20, a transient, was taken to Thayer Center for Health after she eventually made it to shore on her own, but she later was issued a summons charging her with illegal consumption of liquor by a minor, Waterville police Sgt. Brian Gardiner said.
“She jumped several times, swimming,” Gardiner said. “They (the boys) were trying to go to her because it looked like she was having a hard time swimming back to the shore.”
The boys, who identified themselves at the scene as Aerrin Landry, 15, of Clinton, and Parish Napoleone, 14, of Winslow, said they jumped into the Kennebec River to try to rescue the woman, who was floating down the river toward the dam near the Ticonic Bridge, which spans the river between Waterville and Winslow.
“We wanted to get her, and she said, ‘Get the —- away,'” Napoleone said.
Landry added: “She said, ‘You don’t know what happened to me. Get away.'”
After she got onto the shore on the Waterville side of the river, Corbin was led up a hill and through bushes near Head of Falls off Front Street by emergency workers and escorted into a waiting Delta Ambulance vehicle.
The incident happened around 3 p.m., when four girls on the bridge saw the woman jump from the bridge into the water.
One of the girls, Adrianna Lund, 13, dialed 911.
“My dad’s a cop, so I knew what to do,” said Lund, the daughter of Winslow police officer Brandon Lund.
The current was strong, and the boys had a tough time trying to swim upriver to get back toward the Two Cent Bridge, they said.
“I thought we were going to die,” Napoleone said. “It was a really hard swim.”
Emergency crews later told the boys that they should not jump into the river and swim there, because if they reached the dam, they probably would not survive.
Waterville police Sgt. Lincoln Ryder, Waterville police Officer Steve Brame, Animal Control Officer Chris Martinez and city firefighters went to the scene.
They wrapped a white blanket around Corbin before Delta workers took her to Thayer.
“They ended up, due to the level of intoxication, taking her to the hospital,” Gardiner said. He said she was fine otherwise.
Corbin, who will turn 21 next month, according to Gardiner, is scheduled to appear Oct. 7 in Waterville District Court.
Meanwhile, Gardiner advised people not to jump off the Two Cent Bridge or swim in that area of the river.
“It’s definitely dangerous,” he said. “It’s a moving river. It’s a recipe for disaster, especially if you’re intoxicated.”
Amy Calder — 861-9247
Twitter: @AmyCalder17
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