VANCOUVER, Wash. (WAND) – A woman accused of pushing another off a 60-foot bridge is facing charges.
A video posted to social media showed Tay’lor Smith pushing Jordan Holgerson as she stood on the edge of the bridge, causing her to fall and hit the water. KGW 8 reports Holgerson suffered five broken ribs, a punctured lung and bruises from the fall.
Doctors told her she could have bled internally and was lucky to avoid it. Surgeon MaryClare Sarff says 50 percent of people die from the impact at that height.
Smith is charged with reckless endangerment. The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in Washington is involved in the case.
Holgerson says Smith lied in an interview on Good Morning America, when she claimed the victim said to push her if she wasn’t brave enough. She says Smith should face a harsher penalty because she’s treating the ordeal like “a joke” and should know “that what she did was wrong”.
Smith said she apologized to the victim and “feels really bad” about the push.
The attorney’s office says it wants to make sure a punishment is fair and fits the crime, adding that it wants to be sure “this kind of behavior doesn’t happen again”. The reckless endangerment charge could mean as much as 364 days behind bars and a fine of as high as $5,000.
