Man says girlfriend jumped from bridge

Published 12:10 am Saturday, October 23, 2010

A Dalton woman who was airlifted from south Whitfield County after allegedly jumping off a bridge early Friday morning was in fair condition later in the day, authorities said.

Carina Olguin, 35, of 118 Maurine Drive, was found “lying face down beside the railroad tracks” near the intersection of U.S. Highway 41 South and Crown Lake Drive, Deputy Todd Thompson wrote in a Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office incident report. The area is south of the South Bypass and above the Valley Point schools complex.

Lt. Nancy Chadwick said Olguin’s boyfriend, Donnie Edward Hasty Jr., 33, of 3209 Old Field Road in Dalton, was with her at the time but was not charged in the jumping incident. He was, however, arrested for possession of a schedule 4 drug and drugs in a wrong container.

Whitfield 911 reported receiving an emergency call at 12:24 a.m. A dispatcher said it appeared Thompson stopped his cruiser on the bridge during a routine patrol of the area and got out to question Hasty, then made the 911 call himself.

Thompson said he was walking with Hasty on the bridge when he noticed Hasty’s speech was slurred and he was staggering.

“Mr. Hasty advised that he and his girlfriend got into an argument and she jumped off the bridge,” Thompson wrote in the report. “When looking over the bridge, I noticed a female lying face down beside the railroad tracks. At this point I asked Mr. Hasty to have a seat in the back of my patrol car so I could relocate and try to approach and render aid to the female.”

Thompson said Hasty then tossed something out on the pavement.

“I retrieved the item and discovered that (it) contained pills that were later identified as Xanax,” Thompson continued.

Thompson said fire personnel and EMS workers helped ready Olguin for air transport.

A spokeswoman with Erlanger Hospital said as of mid-morning on Friday that Olguin was in fair condition. Contacted at Erlanger, Olguin said she felt “good” on Friday afternoon but did not want to comment about the incident.

Hasty was given a $1,500 bond by Magistrate Court Judge Sidney Baxter on Friday, but Hasty was still in jail late Friday afternoon, a jail spokesman said.