The body of a man who jumped from a pier at the Port of Los Angeles was recovered Friday morning, and investigators are still trying to piece together the events that led to his death, authorities said.
The man had called 911 Thursday evening from a truck stop near E Street in Wilmington and made statements that led dispatchers to alert the Los Angeles Fire Department, said spokeswoman Lt. Stephanie Young.
The unidentified man may have crossed through Leeward Bay Marina to get into the port, where he jumped a fence into a car-transport facility. There, he approached a longshoreman and handed him his cellphone, Young said.
But as private security vehicles at the facility approached shortly before 7:30 p.m., the man grabbed his cell phone back and jumped from a pier into the water about 15 feet below.
The propeller of a cargo ship docking nearby churned up the water, creating a strong current, and the man drowned, authorities said.
Rescuers used sonar to recover his body shortly before 1 a.m. Friday after divers made unsuccessful attempts to find him.
–Amina Khan