Teen charged with pushing her 16-year-old friend off bridge in Washington after video of incident goes viral

An 18-year-old accused of injuring her 16-year-old friend when she pushed the teen off a 60-foot bridge in Washington state has been charged with one count of reckless endangerment.

Charging documents filed by the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney’s office allege Taylor Smith created “a substantial risk of death or serious physical injury” when she shoved her friend Jordan Holgerson off a bridge Aug. 7 at Moulton falls northeast of Vancouver, Washington. Holgerson’s horrifying plummet to the water was recorded and went viral on social media.

New clips obtained by NBC sees Smith urging her pal to jump, telling her “just go” and “I’m going to push you.”

Holgerson suffered “significant injuries,” including a punctured lung, bubbles in her chest and six broken ribs, officials said. She identified Smith as the friend who pushed her and told authorities at the time that the shove was not wanted.

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Smith admitted to pushing her friend but told investigators she was only trying to help Holgerson overcome a fear. She never intended to injure the teen, she said.

“She wanted to jump and she was scared and she had asked me to give her a push, and I didn’t think about the consequences at the time,” Smith told Good Morning America on Friday. “I thought she would be fine."

She also said she reached out to apologize immediately and that she even went to visit her friend at the hospital but was asked to leave.

In several media appearances earlier this month, Holgerson said she was just happy to have survived the fall, equal to about three stories.

"I went to the top of the bridge and my other – my friend ... she came up to the bridge with me," Holgerson told KATU Aug. 9. "And so, she was counting down but I didn’t think anything of it. And I was like, 'No, don’t count down, like, I won’t go if you countdown. I’m not ready.' And then she pushed me."

She said she didn’t feel any pain at the time, only pure adrenaline.

Smith previously said she would “accept whatever the prosecutors give me” no matter how “scary” the prospect of facing charges may be.

Reckless endangerment, a gross misdemeanor, is punishable by up to a year in jail and a maximum fine of $5,000.

With News Wire Services