The heroic Orange County sheriff's deputy who hung onto a suicidal teenager dangling from a Rancho Santa Margarita bridge two months ago was injured Thursday morning on his way to work.
Deputy Tim Africano, who works out of RSM, was riding his police motorcycle when it hit a patch of wet road as he headed south on Santiago Canyon Road, just south of Ridgeline Road, according to Lt. Pat Higa.
Africano's Honda lost traction with the pavement and he was thrown from the motorcycle, causing moderate to major injuries. The crash wrecked the motorcycle, Higa said.
The deputy was transported out of Lake Forest to Mission Hospital to treat his injuries, which were not life-threatening but will require a hospital stay, Higa said.
No other vehicles were involved in the accident. Under department policy, the crash was under investigation by the California Highway Patrol.
Africano in June when he was the first responder to the report of a teen who was threatening to jump off the Banderas Bridge. The boy was on the outside of an 8-foot-high fence on a small ledge; Africano climbed the fence and straddled it, then grabbed the boy and held him with one arm as the boy went limp in an attempt to fall onto the 241 toll road below.
Perched about 40 feet above the highway, Africano held on until two other deputies arrived moments later and assisted pulling the boy over the fence.
