PORT ANGELES — Police this morning identified longtime Port Angeles resident Paul Gerald Sutherland as the 49-year-old man who jumped to his death from the Eighth Street bridge over the Tumwater Truck Route late Thursday afternoon.
Cpl. David Dombrowski of the Port Angeles Police Department said several witnesses saw Sutherland standing on the bridge sidewalk facing north for about 90 minutes before Sutherland intentionally went over the bridge railing shortly before 4 p.m. Thursday.
Sutherland, a cook at a local restaurant, has two adult children, Dombrowski said.
A police dispatcher received the first call that Sutherland had fallen onto the truck route road below the bridge at 3:51 p.m. Thursday.
Police closed the southbound lane of the truck route until 5 p.m. and the northbound lane until 5:30 p.m., when Sutherland’s body was removed and the road was completely cleared.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
