Man Jumping Off Radio Tower Hurt as Chute Snags

A parachutist who leaped off a 2,000-foot-high antenna tower was injured when his chute got tangled in a support wire and he plunged into a water-filled ditch.

The unidentified jumper was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Stockton, where he was listed in serious condition after surgery for a ruptured spleen.

A second parachutist left the area immediately after making a successful jump at the same time and could not be found, a Sacramento County sheriff’s spokesman said.

Officials said the injured man jumped from a platform on the 2,085-foot structure and his partially open parachute became snagged on a guy wire. The jumper slid about 500 feet down the wire, then fell about 300 feet to the ground. He dropped into about 3 1/2 feet of water in a drainage canal.