A local man made a grim discovery Tuesday afternoon, May 19, when out walking his dog on a trail near Strawberry Creek.
Brad Pace of Idyllwild was walking at around 2 p.m. about 200 yards east of the Strawberry Creek Bridge at Highway 243 when his dog pulled him toward something off the trail. Pace saw a bloodied man lying next to a boulder also covered in blood. He thought the man was dead so he called the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
When deputies arrived about 45 minutes later, Pace said they, too, at first thought the man was dead. Then they saw the man’s chest move and called Idyllwild Fire to the scene.
Idyllwild Fire Chief Patrick Reitz said the paramedics transported the man to Keenwild Helibase where he was flown to an area hospital.
Capt. Ray Wood of the Hemet Sheriff’s Station said the man had attempted suicide by stabbing himself in both sides of the neck. He had deep lacerations to both sides of his neck but “he is expected to make a full recovery,” Wood said. Because of the mental condition of the man, Wood would not release his name.
“We don’t know his residence and when we went to his last known residence, the resident there doesn’t know him,” added Wood.
Asked why paramedics were not dispatched when the deputies were originally dispatched, Wood said he would look into the issue.
Becky Clark can be reached at becky@towncrier.com.