The 23-year-old suspect was wanted on a simple assault charge out of Allentown, according to authorities.
A man allegedly fled Phillipsburg police early this morning, crossed the free bridge into Easton and then jumped into the Lehigh River before being arrested.
Phillipsburg police Chief James Faulborn said town police stopped a man and woman walking in the area of Miller and Hudson streets because of the late hour.
The pair, later identified as Keith Firman, 23, of the 900 block of Ferry Street in Easton, and Jacklyn Hartrum, 20, of the first block of Shultz Avenue in Phillipsburg, were uncooperative as police learned he had an outstanding warrant out of Pennsylvania, police said.
Firman tried to run and struggled with an officer, escaped and fled toward Easton, the chief said. New Jersey State Police joined the search and requests were made for a K-9 search dog and a state police helicopter, according to witnesses and emergency scanner broadcasts.
At 3:45 a.m., a Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission officer working at the free bridge notified authorities that the man had crossed the bridge into Easton, according to scanner reports. The man was found at Second and Northampton streets but fled again, running south toward Larry Holmes Drive and then jumping the railing at the falls in Scott Park into the Lehigh River, according to witnesses and emergency broadcasts.
Radio reports indicated he landed on the rocks at the falls and then waded into the river. Police got him out of the river and placed him in custody. An ambulance was called and he was taken to St. Luke's University Hospital in Fountain Hill.
Easton police referred comment to the Phillipsburg Police Department. Faulborn said Firman was charged with obstructing justice, resisting arrest and fugitive from justice. He faces a simple assault charge on the Allentown warrant, authorities said.Faulborn said Hartrum was wanted on warrants out of Washington and Washington Township, N.J. He said she provided police with a false name and was charged with hindering apprehension before being handed over to the Washington Township police.