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OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — A woman was arrested Sunday nearly four weeks after she jumped from the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge while trying to evade police with a stolen car, authorities said.
Erlynn Sanchez-Edwards was arrested in Oakland after a tip, the California Highway Patrol said in a statement. They would not give further details on the circumstances.
Sanchez-Edwards had climbed over the guardrail and plunged from the bridge into the cold water of the bay on Aug. 12. The CHP said they came to believe she survived the fall when witnesses saw a woman emerge from the water, and a truck driver reported picking up a woman in wet clothing soon after.
Her fall was a relatively small 70 feet, making survival much more likely. Other parts of the bridge have a plunge of some 200 feet and the nearby Golden Gate Bridge has a fall of nearly 250 feet that less than 1 percent of jumpers survive.
Sanchez-Edwards was booked into Santa Rita Jail on suspicion of car theft, receipt of a stolen vehicle, hit-and-run causing injury, resisting arrest and driving under the influence.
"I commend the CHP officers and investigators from throughout the Bay Area who performed excellent police work identifying witnesses, investigating leads, and getting the word out," CHP Capt. Christopher Sherry said in a statement.
Information on an attorney or associates for Sanchez-Edwards could not be found.
The car Sanchez-Edwards was spotted in before the jump had been stolen from Los Angeles, authorities said, and had been involved in a suspected DUI crash in the bridge's eastbound lanes.
Several people called 911 to report seeing her near the bridge's toll plaza, leading to the pursuit and plunge from the bridge.
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