Darwin Award nominee
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/11/BAOD12S9S2.DTL(09-11) 14:10 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- A car-burglary suspect fell to his death early today after he climbed over a wall on San Francisco's Telegraph Hill while trying to flee from police, apparently unaware that on the other side of the wall was a 200-foot cliff, authorities said.
The man was identified by the San Francisco medical examiner's office as James Cockrum, 38, of Daly City. Law-enforcement sources said Cockrum was a parolee, but details of his criminal record were not immediately available.
The incident began at 12:30 a.m. when police received reports of a someone breaking into a car on the unit block of Alta Street near Montgomery Street, east of Coit Tower.
Plainclothes officers set up surveillance in the area and spotted Cockrum getting out of an Audi, said police spokesman Sgt. Neville Gittens. Police tried to stop him, but he took off running. At one point, he stumbled and a screwdriver fell out of his pocket, police said.
Cockrum jumped over a 3-foot wall at the end of Alta Street and plunged the equivalent of 20 stories. He was pronounced dead at the scene, west of Sansome Street.
Officers found that a Subaru and possibly a third car had been broken into, Gittens said.
Louie Mandecote, a caregiver for a resident on Alta, said the incident was unnerving because "this neighborhood is so quiet."
Mandecote added, "It's a long-way drop from where Alta Street is. He probably doesn't live here if he didn't know that."
[Is it just me or was anyone else reminded of Bugs Bunny?]
