Manatee Deputies Save Man Who Tried To Run Officer Down: WATCH

BRADENTON, FL — Manatee County Sheriff's officers were praised this week for saving the life of a man accused of trying to run a deputy down with his pickup truck.

“We go from a DUI stop, possibly to the suspect trying to run over my deputy on two different occasions, to a pursuit that takes us all the way to the Skyway Bridge — and then turns into a life-saving event where the suspect was going to jump off the Skyway Bridge — and we were able to save him from doing that," Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells told reporters.

The incident began shortly before 2 a.m. on Sept. 11 when Deputy Jacob Merrill spotted 23-year-old Scott B. Rapson driving erratically along State Road 64 near Cypress Creek Boulevard.

"I noticed the vehicle was driving all over the road, showing signs of DUI," Merrill recalled. Rapson took off when the deputy tried to pull him over.

"I relocated that vehicle. I again attempted to stop that vehicle," Merrill said. "That driver, as I was exiting my car, attempted to run me over, then reversed and then again drove at my car, and then drove off."

Merrill said he remained with a passenger from Rapson's pickup while other deputies took over the chase. At one point, deputies deployed a tire-deflation device, which took out two of Rapson's tires.

Deputies say Rapson kept driving until he reached the center of the 4.14-mile Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge, the second longest bridge in Florida. Rapson got out of the pickup and made his way to the ledge of the bridge, which is , one of the most deadly in terms of people who take their own lives.

"The driver was driving between 60 and 90 mph after he had two tires demolished," explained Detective John Jones, who followed behind Rapson along with Sgt. Bowling. "When he stopped on top of the bridge, he got out of the vehicle with his phone in his hand and he waved at me."

Rapson dangled his legs over the side of the bridge as Jones kept him talking for about five minutes.

"He was saying he wasn’t going back to jail. He had done that before, and he wasn’t going back to jail," Jones said. "He was trying to call his mom to say his final goodbyes."

That realization put more pressure on the deputy. "There’s not a whole lot you can say to him," Jones explained. "I was up there talking to him. My sergeant, I could hear him on the radio: 'Keep him calm. Keep him calm.'"

Detective Tyler Ackerman and another deputy crept around Rapson while Jones kept him occupied.

"He was actually on the phone, which gave us another added distraction so he couldn’t see us coming from his peripheral side," Ackerman recalled. "I got as low as I could, and got under his arms, and tried to make my hands touch and just pulled him off the barrier."

Rapson was charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, DUI and fleeing to elude. He was taken to the Hillsborough County Jail.

"When he threw his legs over the bridge, it went from an arrest to stopping him from jumping off the bridge, or at least trying to do that," Jones acknowledged.

"In this case we were successful," he added. "It’s the job."

Watch the rescue below courtesy of the Manatee County Sheriff's Office: