TS Redway man flees, drowns in river
WEOTT -- A traffic stop turned fatal Sunday afternoon after a Redway man reportedly ran from a Humboldt County Sheriff's deputy, jumped over a 60-foot embankment and drowned in the Eel River. ...The man was identified as Andrew Jackson Gressett, 24... At about 12:10 p.m. Sunday, a Sheriff's deputy pulled over the man on Avenue of the Giants north of Weott.
”After initially failing to yield, the driver of the vehicle pulled to the side of the road and jumped over a 60-foot embankment toward the river,” the Sheriff's news release stated.
ER - Gressett had two outstanding warrants out for his arrest, HCSO spokesperson Brenda Godsey said....
The passenger, 21-year-old Kelly Elizabeth Stradinger, of Redway, was eventually arrested, the HCSO said. She reportedly continued to fail to comply with the deputy's instructions and kicked him several times while her dog bit him in the leg. Stradinger was arrested for resisting/obstructing a peace officer and misdemeanor possession of marijuana...
Rose, this is rumor mongering but I'm hoping to find out if the rumor is correct. I heard that the officer in the traffic stop is the same officer that pulled over someone a few years ago that supposedly committed suicide before he could approach the car.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone else heard this? The original source of this rumor is supposedly a fellow officer.
I haven't heard that! What a weird coincidence, if true, huh?
ReplyDeleteI just have to wonder why the guy would run. In this county. Most minor things aren't getting anywhere NEAR a trial...
maybe this kid had his trial and execution all at once.....
ReplyDeleteHeh! That's one way to look at it.
ReplyDeleteI just have to wonder why the guy would run.
ReplyDeletePossibly high. Speed might do it. Might cause him to drown as well.
Yeah. Could be, I guess. That'd be really sad, a waste.
ReplyDeleteSounds like meth to me, too.
ReplyDeleteKym, are you serious?
if there was no contraband found in the vehicle, and no arrest warrants were outstanding for the deceased, i would be looking at the officer involved very closely......
ReplyDeletewhy in the world would a guy run for his life, and why would his girlfriend try to fight a police officer?
there was either some contraband in that vehicle OR these people knew each other prior to that encounter.
and "speed" is the lamest excuse ive heard since LSD was blamed for cotton's death. speed does not make a person jump 60 to his death.
that is IF he jumped. he may have been thrown over the edge after he was already unconcious.
I have to say that if the officer did anything to the guy, he would have been an idiot to leave the woman alive. I find it hard to believe that he threw the guy over.
ReplyDeletethe whole story sounds fishy to me. read the story again and look how vague the description of the escape is.
ReplyDeletealso, why would temperatures in the low 40's impede the search?
again, ill bet that these kids have had prior run-ins with this officer. OR there was a lot of contraband that the officer didnt report.
OK - if we're gonna be LEAPING to conclusions, maybe the driver is actually a serial killer, and there are body parts in the trunk... maybe they need to go over his car and house with a fine toothed comb.... Maybe he was fresh from the scene of a crime, still had blood evidence on him and panicked...
ReplyDeleteI mean, it could be ANYTHING at this point.
Maybe the contraband was in the guy's bloodstream & not in his car?
ReplyDeleteOr, maybe the cop is a serial killer...
rose,
ReplyDeletethe vehicle has been searched by now. if there was a dead body inside, we would know ALL about it.
it couldnt be ANYTHING, it had to be something that makes a kid run for his life. the girlfriend has the answers.
Just kiddin' Theo!
ReplyDeleteLooks like the ER had a story - A Redway man reportedly jumped to his death Sunday afternoon after fleeing from a Humboldt County Sheriff's Office deputy in Southern Humboldt.
ReplyDeleteThe man was identified Monday afternoon as 24-year-old Andrew Jackson Gressett, who was originally from Fort Bragg, Humboldt County Deputy Coroner Charles Comer said.
Gressett was reportedly pulled over by a sheriff's deputy at approximately 12:10 p.m. on state Route 254 (Avenue of the Giants). After initially failing to yield, he pulled to the side of the road and jumped down a steep 60-foot embankment toward the Eel River.
The deputy didn't chase Gressett, but stayed with the vehicle's passenger, who had exited the car and reportedly became belligerent.
State park rangers, a California Highway Patrol officer and additional sheriff's deputies arrived to search for Gressett, but the search was reportedly impeded by inclement weather, including hail, wind gusts and temperatures in the low 40s.
Gressett's body was found at approximately 1:30 p.m. by sheriff's deputies.
Determination of the cause of death is pending an investigation by the Coroner's Office, Comer said, and toxicology tests will determine if drugs or alcohol were in his system at the time.
There weren't any obvious signs of trauma or injury to his body, Comer said.
Gressett had two outstanding warrants out for his arrest, HCSO spokesperson Brenda Godsey said.
The passenger, 21-year-old Kelly Elizabeth Stradinger, of Redway, was eventually arrested, the HCSO said. She reportedly continued to fail to comply with the deputy's instructions and kicked him several times while her dog bit him in the leg. Stradinger was arrested for resisting/obstructing a peace officer and misdemeanor possession of marijuana.
She was released on her own recognizance and is scheduled to appear in court
2 warrants......that puts my conspiracy theory to rest.
ReplyDeleteI added that info to the post. Darn, just think of the theories we could have come up with!
ReplyDeleteyou guys are cruel. Andy was my cousin. the reason he was running from the cops wasn't because he was "high on speed". He was a hippie that lived in a commune. He ran from the cops because he had run from them before and got away with it. he was wearing big blac steal toed boots that ultimatly drowned him in the water below. he was a good man and a good son even though he had some criminal history. he was a bee keeper apprentice, and he is very, very missed.
ReplyDelete