Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
Police try to determine whether his plunge from a Clearwater parking garage was accidental.
By ED QUIOCO, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published April 3, 2003
CLEARWATER -- A 43-year-old man plummeted from the seventh-floor corner of a downtown parking garage and landed in a grassy area just after lunchtime Wednesday.
Geoffrey Ulman, who lives at a halfway house on Seminole Street, was taken by helicopter to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg.
He was listed in critical condition, which generally means vital signs are unstable and not within normal limits.
Police officers are looking into whether Ulman jumped or fell from the garage, Clearwater police spokesman Wayne Shelor said.
"We see no indication of any type of foul play," Shelor said.
Before Ulman's fall, he was asked by a maintenance man to leave the parking garage, Shelor said.
When Ulman didn't leave, the maintenance man called Clearwater police.
While he was on the phone, Ulman fell off the building, between the Munimae and Bank of America buildings in downtown Clearwater.
"The guy evaded him and at some point fell or jumped from the top," Shelor said.
Ulman fell about 60 feet and landed between two large air conditioning units.
After he fell, a large crowd of onlookers gathered around him.
"The cops were there within three minutes, I would say," said Leanne Serrabella, the manager of Jack's Downtown Deli, next to Station Square Park, which is close to where Ulman fell. "It was crazy."
Ulman was moaning and bleeding from a large wound on his leg before rescuers arrived, witnesses said.
Ulman has lived at the 16-room This House Inc. for about eight months, said Bill Bauer, the facility's manager.
This House is a 12-step recovery program a few blocks away on Seminole Street.
Ulman is a day laborer and a welder by trade, Bauer said.
He likes to play darts, fish and read books.
"He's a good guy," Bauer said. "He was friendly, but he kept to himself, too."
-- Ed Quioco can be reached at 445-4156 or quioco@sptimes.com .