College Student Survives Fall From 8th-Floor Window, Police Report Details What Happened

A University of Georgia senior survived a fall from an eighth-floor apartment window after witnesses said she was dancing near an open window inside an off-campus student housing complex.

Kristin Sargent, 21, fell Saturday evening at Rambler Athens on West Broad Street. She landed on the pool deck below and was taken to a hospital with serious injuries.

A newly released Athens-Clarke County Police Department incident report provides a more detailed picture of the fall. CBS Atlanta reported that witnesses told police Sargent had been dancing on a couch or air mattress near an open window when she went through the screen.

Sargent survived with several broken bones. By Monday, her father said she was awake, talking and recovering in intensive care.

On The Way Down

Police and emergency crews were called to Rambler Athens at about 7:37 p.m. Sept. 26, according to CBS Atlanta’s review of the incident report.

Sargent fell from the eighth-floor apartment to the second-floor pool deck. The report indicates she appears to have struck a metal bench during the fall.

An armrest on the bench had broken off, and officers found blood on one of its cushions, CBS reported.

The responding officer wrote that the evidence pointed to an accidental fall, although the investigation remained open.

Earlier reporting based on information from Athens-Clarke County police had established that Sargent was conscious and alert after the fall. FOX 5 Atlanta reported that police described her injuries as serious.

Alive And Talking

Sargent’s family received word of the fall at home in Virginia and rushed to Athens.

Her father, Richard Sargent, later told WSB-TV that his daughter, a senior studying finance and marketing, had already been able to speak with friends from the ICU.

“She was talking to one of her friends and saying, ‘Hey, I’m alive. I can’t believe it,’” he said.

Richard Sargent did not discuss the circumstances of the fall. He said it happened after Georgia’s football team defeated Oklahoma 41-13 earlier Saturday.

“She’s a good fighter, and so she’s going to be OK,” he said.

The Open Window

The circumstances surrounding the window itself remain less clear.

WSB-TV reported that Rambler management sent residents a message after the fall, saying windows throughout the property are equipped with safety limiters. Management warned residents not to “tamper with, remove or disengage” the devices.

Neither the police report reviewed by GH nor the public statements examined so far establishes whether the window-limiter Sargent fell through was engaged, disengaged, or otherwise involved in what happened.

Rambler’s own property information states that the building has an extensive security camera network, including cameras covering its pool deck and other amenity areas.

No public information reviewed so far establishes whether a camera captured Sargent’s fall.

As of Monday evening, Sargent remained in intensive care recovering from multiple broken bones, with her father saying she was awake, talking and aware of how extraordinary her survival had been.