SIMI VALLEY : Man Perched on Overpass Arrested

A Simi Valley man who had threatened suicide three times in less than two weeks while perched on a freeway overpass was arrested when he climbed on an overpass a fourth time and refused to budge, authorities said Thursday.

The California Highway Patrol diverted westbound traffic from the Simi Valley Freeway at Yosemite Avenue shortly after 7 p.m. Wednesday and kept the lanes closed for nearly an hour, a CHP spokesman said.

Robert Boomhower, 34, was arrested on suspicion of creating a public nuisance, a misdemeanor, and taken to Ventura County Jail, said Lt. Ken Tacke of the Simi Valley Police Department.

Boomhower, who police said was upset and despondent over a failed relationship, had threatened to jump from the same location on March 18 and Monday, Tacke said.

Last Friday, police found Boomhower on the freeway’s Tapo Street crossing, Officer Gary Howell said.

On two of the three occasions, police summoned Boomhower’s former girlfriend to the scene to help talk him down, Howell said.

All three times, police took Boomhower to a county mental health facility for observation on a 72-hour hold, but mental health officials released him after a short stay, Tacke said.

On Wednesday, Boomhower told police he would not move until he talked with his girlfriend again, but the woman was unwilling to speak with him, Howell said. After persuading Boomhower to leave his perch, police took him into custody on a seldom-used nuisance charge.

“We are going to handle it as a criminal matter this time,” Tacke said. “We are intent on keeping him incarcerated until he goes in front of a judge if at all possible.”

Boomhower is being held on $750 bail and is scheduled to be arraigned today in Municipal Court.