A homeless man with a history of arrests was rescued Sunday afternoon from the roof of a business in downtown Augusta.
Jamie Tyrone Jackson, 41, ended up on the roof above Craft & Vine on the 1200 block of Broad Street. The dramatic scene was broadcast live on Augusta Today’s Facebook live by Brad Owens, showing in a series of feeds how deputies talked to him and realized he had no intention of jumping.
Authorities eventually got him off the roof with the ladder of a fire truck and he was taken to a local hospital.
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- Augusta Fire Department and Sheriff’s Office assist removing man from roof. August 13, 2023. Staff photo.
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- Augusta Fire Department and Sheriff’s Office assist removing man from roof. August 13, 2023. Staff photo.
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- Augusta Fire Department and Sheriff’s Office assist removing man from roof. August 13, 2023. Staff photo.
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- Augusta Fire Department and Sheriff’s Office assist removing man from roof. August 13, 2023. Staff photo.
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- Augusta Fire Department and Sheriff’s Office assist removing man from roof. August 13, 2023. Staff photo.
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- Augusta Fire Department and Sheriff’s Office assist removing man from roof. August 13, 2023. Staff photo.
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- Augusta Fire Department and Sheriff’s Office assist removing man from roof. August 13, 2023. Staff photo.
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- Augusta Fire Department and Sheriff’s Office assist removing man from roof. August 13, 2023. Staff photo.
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- Jamie Jackson is shown before his rescue (Staff photo)
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- Jamie Jackson was given water before refusing treatment and being handcuffed. He was reportedly taken to the hospital.
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- Jamie Tyrone Jackson is show in this Aug. 4 arrest for disorderly conduct.
Jackson did not show up Sunday night on the jail’s website, and charges are unclear.
Owens, a security contractor and administrator of the Facebook group Augusta Today, said he was on his way home from church mass when he was people looking up at the man and stopped to investigate. He captured the tense moments on video as the man walked close to the ledge. After he was rescued, he was offered treatment and then handcuffed when he refused.
“They literally tried to talk him into going with the paramedics,” Owens said on Facebook. “He was ‘high’ by his own admission, and had just been taken off of 75 foot ledge at the expense of the taxpayer, tying up at least 10 officers and 15 fire department personnel for over an hour.”
Owens said the incident ultimately ended up peacefully.
“There is nothing else they could have done. It was peaceful, They got the guy down. They didn’t injure him,” Owens said.
Jackson was most recently arrested on Aug. 4 in Richmond County for disorderly conduct, and he told jailers he was homeless. He has a history of arrests dating back two decades, including convictions for cocaine possession, child cruelty, simple battery, giving false info to police and battery.
It’s unclear how the man accessed the building, but it is in the same location as the July 8 officer-involved shooting that led to the death of 36-year-old homeless man Duterval Sejour and serious injuries to Deputy Kenneth Mercer.
