Mother Who Fell From Overpass Cleared

Attempted murder charges will not be sought against a Long Beach woman who fell from a freeway overpass as she clutched her 9-month-old son, police said Tuesday.

Martha Broaden, 38, was arrested Monday shortly after she leaped from a moving taxi on the Harbor Freeway with her baby in her arms. According to initial police reports, the woman appeared to have jumped off the freeway overpass, but witnesses later said Broaden was fleeing because she believed that she was going to be mugged.

Witnesses told police that Broaden felt threatened by another passenger who had offered to escort Broaden from the downtown Greyhound bus terminal to her sister’s home in Long Beach. The woman panicked and fled from the taxi, but lost her balance and tumbled 15 feet down an embankment near 9th and Sunbury streets, still hugging her baby, police said Tuesday.

The infant, Charles Edward Lee Jr., suffered bruises but was listed in fair condition Tuesday at County-USC Medical Center, a hospital spokeswoman said.

“Our investigation revealed that the woman’s intent was not to hurt the baby,” said Detective Sylvia Trundle of the Los Angeles Police Department’s child abuse unit. “She was in fear of something, possibly someone, who tried to rob her.”

Broaden was treated for scratches and bruises and was in satisfactory condition Tuesday at County-USC, where she was undergoing a three-day psychiatric evaluation.

Jerry Lafayette, 37, of Inglewood, the passenger who hailed the taxi for Broaden and was accompanying her when she became distraught, said the woman’s escape from the cab was unprovoked.

“The woman just got spooked,” Lafayette said.

When Lafayette and the cab driver tried to restrain her, Lafayette said, she became more upset. “By us trying to grab her, she thought we were trying to attack,” he said. Police said Lafayette and the driver were not under investigation.

Throughout the fracas, the woman tried to shield the infant from harm, Lafayette said.

“It looked like she wanted to protect him,” Lafayette said. “Most of the time, she had the baby folded up in her arms, like a football player carrying a ball.”