Pope County sheriff presents life‑saving award to Deputy Chris Thomason

Sheriff Shane Jones presented a life‑saving award to Deputy Chris Thomason during the Pope County Quorum Court meeting in February 2025, recognizing Thomason’s November 2024 intervention that prevented a woman from falling from a bridge.

The presentation came during the meeting’s unfinished business. “I’m honored to be here tonight and always excited to … just show off our deputies and what they do on a daily basis,” Sheriff Shane Jones said as he introduced the deputy and described the incident.

According to the sheriff’s account to the court, on an evening in November 2024 Deputy Thomason responded to a report of a woman stumbling in a roadside ditch near Georgetown Road outside London. The woman, who had been in an altercation and left her nearby home, climbed over the railing of an I‑40 bridge. Deputy Thomason reached her from about 30 yards away, grabbed her and prevented what the sheriff described as “a potential death.” Emergency medical services transported the woman to Saint Mary’s Hospital.

Sheriff Jones asked the court to recognize Thomason for “swift actions on November of 2024 preventing this suicidal subject from jumping off the bridge, which resulted in the preservation of life.” The sheriff presented Thomason with a life‑saving award and a pen; Thomason’s family and his supervisor, Sgt. B.J. Gatlin, were present for the recognition and photographs.

During the presentation a court member said the woman’s husband had called and threatened to shoot the deputy if he were sent to the scene again; court members did not take formal action on that verbal remark during the meeting.

The court offered brief applause and comments of appreciation before the meeting moved on to new business.