Pier Jumper Transported to Hospital

A 25-year-old man who jumped off the Manhattan Beach Pier onto the sand, 18 to 20 feet below, Sunday night was immobilized by lifeguards before being transported to a local hospital.

The man, who is not from Manhattan Beach, reportedly was showing off for friends at about 6:25 p.m., according to Stephanie Martin, public information officer for the Manhattan Beach Police Department.

Martin was not able to offer any comment as to whether intoxication played a role in the incident.

“He appeared lucid” to those on the scene, said Garth Canning, section chief of Los Angeles County Lifeguards.

“He just thought he could make it,” Canning said.

The man did not have any discernible injuries, according to John Weber, batallion chief with the Manhattan Beach Fire Department.

However, after he complained of neck and back pain, the man was placed on a spine board before being transported to Little Company of Mary medical center, Canning said.

At one point, the scene was swarming with emergency personnel, with two firetrucks, an ambulance and numerous lifeguard trucks on the sand. The exit to the parking lot closest to the sand on the north side of the pier was temporarily blocked with emergency vehicles.