Driver fleeing police dives headfirst off Missouri bridge in getaway attempt

A 26-year-old man was captured on video bolting across a two-lane Missouri bridge and diving headfirst into the waterway below at the end of a car chase.

Gavin Thor Lundgren, of Kimberling City, Missouri, was behind bars Tuesday after he was booked into jail Saturday based on allegations of resisting arrest by fleeing, careless driving, third-degree assault and interfering with an arrest, according to inmate records.

Stone County, Missouri, Sheriff Doug Rader said deputies tried to stop the car Lundgren was driving in Kimberling City, a small municipality about 180 miles southeast of Kansas City, shortly before 2 a.m. Saturday but were led on a southbound pursuit that eventually ended up on the bridge.

Dashcam video from a deputy’s vehicle shows the vehicle Lundgren was allegedly driving continuing to roll forward slowly after he jumped out. Deputies followed behind and reported no serious injuries related to the rolling sedan.

Lundgren got out from the driver’s side of the vehicle, stumbled across the opposing lane of traffic, and leaped over the side of the bridge into Table Rock Lake below, the sheriff said.

Deputies searched for him until one came across him, Rader said. NBC affiliate KYTV of Springfield reported that Lundgren allegedly head-butted two deputies during his arrest.

“This was definitely a first and luckily he survived the fall,” Rader said in his statement Monday. “He resisted arrest and deputies suffered minor injuries taking him into custody.”

Lundgren was being held without bond in county jail, according to inmate records. No lawyers were listed in court documents as representing him, and the public defender for the area did not immediately respond to a request for comment.