Two men tried some athletic stunts to evade police yesterday morning in separate incidents along the Ohio River, but both ultimately were unsuccessful.

Ohio Township police received a call around 8 a.m. about a parole violator, for whom the police had a warrant, hiding under the Ben Avon Bridge. When officers approached the man, whose name was not released, he took off into the woods and ended up on a trail near the river, police Chief Norbert Micklos said.

When police caught up to him, he put his hands up, then dove into the river. He swam well, Chief Micklos said, and didn't appear to be struggling.

When he got about halfway across -- Chief Micklos estimated the river is about a quarter-mile wide at that point -- the man tried to use his cell phone, but it was waterlogged and didn't work. The man told officers he was trying to call his girlfriend, and Chief Micklos told him if he came back ashore, he would call her.

The man swam back to the waiting police and was taken into custody, after getting a chance to speak with his girlfriend.

Chief Micklos, who said the man had been in jail on multiple charges before his release, was impressed at the suspect's skill in the water.

"Michael Phelps has got nothing on this guy," he said with a laugh. "He should be in China."

After the Olympic hopeful in long-distance swimming, police just up the river had their hands full with a long jumper.

Police said John Paul Obritz, 24, of McCandless, stole a few cartons of cigarettes from the CVS drugstore on Lincoln Avenue in Bellevue at around 10:30 a.m.

According to police Chief Matthew Sentner, he got into the front passenger seat of a car, and an officer in the area who saw Mr. Obritz being chased by store employees followed that vehicle.

As the car crossed the McKees Rocks Bridge, the police car flashed its lights, the car stopped and Mr. Obritz got out. He tossed the cigarettes over the side of the bridge, then jumped over himself, Chief Sentner said. He landed on the ground by the Pepsi bottling plant below.

Mr. Obritz was taken to Allegheny General Hospital, where he was in serious condition.