Two makeshift crosses were erected Monday along the Newport Levee near the base of the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge in remembrance of a Bellevue man who fell to his death a day earlier during the 2002 Riverfest fireworks display.

Greg Duell, 20, and Brian Merman, 17, of Bellevue sit under the bridger near crosses erected in memory of Jay D. Grainger. (Patrick Reddy photo) | ZOOM |

        Jay D. Grainger, 18, fell more than 50 feet from the Interstate 471 bridge shortly after 9:30 p.m. Sunday in what police described as an accident.

        In a two-paragraph statement released Monday, Newport authorities said police received a 9:20 p.m. report that objects were being thrown from the bridge onto crowds on the banks below.

        Officers found Mr. Grainger and his 20-year-old brother, Barry, in a restricted area.

        “Both subjects were advised to leave ... or they would be arrested,” the police statement said. “The subjects left the area and then returned before the officers had left the scene.”

        After being told to leave a second time, police said, the younger Mr. Grainger refused and was about to be arrested when he “threw a beer can at (an) officer and struck him in the chest.”

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        The officer was unharmed, authorities said.

        Police said Mr. Grainger ran onto the bridge, mounted a bordering wall and apparently lost his footing and fell.

        Neither family members nor those at the base of the bridge would comment Monday about Mr. Grainger or his death.

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