Man Dies in Leap Off Coronado Bridge

An unemployed 35-year-old taxicab driver jumped to his death off the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge at Saturday, the county coroner’s office reported.

The man, identified as Joel Thomas Schoop of San Diego, was picked up by the San Diego Harbor Police and taken to the Coronado Hospital, but Schoop died of massive internal injuries while en route to the UC San Diego Medical Center by a Lifeflight helicopter, a coroner’s spokesman said.

Schoop parked his car in the center lane of the bridge’s center span at 2:30 p.m. and jumped off the rail along the north side of the bridge, the coroner’s spokesman said.

Schoop was reportedly depressed by his unemployment.