Niagra Falls
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Judge Frees Niagara Falls Survivor
ST. CATHARINES, Ontario (AP) - A Canadian judge on Thursday
released a U.S. citizen who survived a plunge over Niagara Falls
and ordered him to stay out of Canada except for court appearances.
Kirk Jones spoke little during his brief appearance in a
provincial court room except to say he understood the charges
against him. He is charged with mischief and unlawfully performing
a stunt.
Jones, 40, and a friend had been drinking vodka and Coke before
heading to the falls, where Jones climbed a protective railing into
the Niagara River on Monday and floated feet first over the falls,
prosecutors told the court.
The friend, who has not been charged, videotaped him. Inspector
Paul Forcier said police were reviewing that tape.
`Well, you're lucky to be standing here,'' the judge told
Jones. He set bail at $1,000 Canadian ($760 U.S.).
Jones' brother, Keith Jones, was in court and said he believes
his brother was despondent.
`I believe it was more reaching out for attention,'' he said,
noting that his brother is unemployed and not married.
`He didn't really have a lot going for him.''
After Jones was released from a hospital Wednesday and arrested,
he told reporters that he had been suicidal but that the experience
made him want to live. Authorities had suggested he was simply a daredevil-
the latest in a long line who have sought to conquer Niagara Falls
over the last century.
`It's an embarrassing thing to say now, but depression caused
me to do what I think untold numbers have done in Niagara Falls,''
Jones said Wednesday night. `I can't ask you why God saw me
fit to live at this time, but I'm happy to be alive.''
His father, Raymond Jones of Keizer, Ore., said his son sounded
cheerful Wednesday in a phone call from the psychiatric unit at
Greater Niagara General Hospital.
`He fully expected to die,'' the 80-year-old father said. ``He
was near death. He knew it. He thinks he was saved for a reason.''
Jones, of Canton, Mich., is the only person known to have
survived a plunge over the falls without a safety device.
Family and friends have said Jones had been considering the jump
for years. Eric Fronek, 21, told ABC that his friend had discussed
it in the past, but was driven to act by depression.
Jones recently lost his sales job when his parents shut down the
family business, which made measuring tools for auto parts
manufacturers. His father said he closed the business because of
the slow auto economy.
`I think he just reached the point where whatever happened was
the best plan for him,'' Fronek said. ``If he made it, he might
benefit with money. If he died, so be it.''
ST. CATHARINES, Ontario (AP) - A Canadian judge on Thursday
released a U.S. citizen who survived a plunge over Niagara Falls
and ordered him to stay out of Canada except for court appearances.
Kirk Jones spoke little during his brief appearance in a
provincial court room except to say he understood the charges
against him. He is charged with mischief and unlawfully performing
a stunt.
Jones, 40, and a friend had been drinking vodka and Coke before
heading to the falls, where Jones climbed a protective railing into
the Niagara River on Monday and floated feet first over the falls,
prosecutors told the court.
The friend, who has not been charged, videotaped him. Inspector
Paul Forcier said police were reviewing that tape.
`Well, you're lucky to be standing here,'' the judge told
Jones. He set bail at $1,000 Canadian ($760 U.S.).
Jones' brother, Keith Jones, was in court and said he believes
his brother was despondent.
`I believe it was more reaching out for attention,'' he said,
noting that his brother is unemployed and not married.
`He didn't really have a lot going for him.''
After Jones was released from a hospital Wednesday and arrested,
he told reporters that he had been suicidal but that the experience
made him want to live. Authorities had suggested he was simply a daredevil-
the latest in a long line who have sought to conquer Niagara Falls
over the last century.
`It's an embarrassing thing to say now, but depression caused
me to do what I think untold numbers have done in Niagara Falls,''
Jones said Wednesday night. `I can't ask you why God saw me
fit to live at this time, but I'm happy to be alive.''
His father, Raymond Jones of Keizer, Ore., said his son sounded
cheerful Wednesday in a phone call from the psychiatric unit at
Greater Niagara General Hospital.
`He fully expected to die,'' the 80-year-old father said. ``He
was near death. He knew it. He thinks he was saved for a reason.''
Jones, of Canton, Mich., is the only person known to have
survived a plunge over the falls without a safety device.
Family and friends have said Jones had been considering the jump
for years. Eric Fronek, 21, told ABC that his friend had discussed
it in the past, but was driven to act by depression.
Jones recently lost his sales job when his parents shut down the
family business, which made measuring tools for auto parts
manufacturers. His father said he closed the business because of
the slow auto economy.
`I think he just reached the point where whatever happened was
the best plan for him,'' Fronek said. ``If he made it, he might
benefit with money. If he died, so be it.''
