‘We should help each other’

Texarkanian says training kicked in as he helped police pull man to safety

TEXARKANA, Ark. — Jamie Roberson said he did not think twice about helping police when he drove up on a dangerous situation on March 1 at Siebert and Washington streets.

“If you see something that needs to be done, do it,” Roberson said.

Roberson, 53, was on his way home from the grocery store when he ran into a roadblock. As he got closer, he could see two Texarkana Arkansas Police Department officers trying to hold onto someone who had appeared to go over the side of the bridge.

Roberson, a former Mandeville, Arkansas, firefighter and an Army and Marine Corps veteran, discerned the officers were struggling to hold onto the man, so he jumped into action.

“I reached over the rail and I told him, ‘God loves you. Somebody loves you,’” Roberson said Thursday to the Gazette.

Roberson said he recognized the man from the neighborhood but did not know him well.

Police had attempted to arrest the man, who was wanted on a felony warrant, at the intersection of Seibert and Washington. He allegedly resisted arrest and a struggle ensued, during which the man reportedly attempted to jump backward off the bridge near the intersection.

The man was able to get his body over the bridge railing and would have fallen several feet onto the large chunks of concrete and rock had the officers not managed to hold him up by his clothing.

As officers were losing their grip, Roberson arrived and promptly assisted them.

“With his help, the sus- pect was pulled back over the bridge railing and saved from possible significant injury or worse,” Public Information Officer Kristin Schlutz.

Last week, TAPD honored Roberson with a plaque expressing appreciation for his efforts.

Roberson said his military and first responder training took over, but he also wants to be a good role model for his two daughters and four grandchildren.

Roberson said it disappointed him to see a small crowd had gathered and videoed the incident on their cellphones but did not assist the officers.

“We, as people of Texarkana, should help each other. It doesn’t matter [what] color, race or creed. We are all in this together,” he said.

(Staff photo by Lori Dunn) Jamie Roberson holds the plaque he received from Texarkana Arkansas Police Department outside his home Thursday in Texarkana, Ark. Roberson recently was honored for helping two officers rescue a man who was attempting to jump backward off a bridge March 1. Roberson is an Army and Marine Corps veteran.