VENTURA : Would-Be Freeway Leaper Seized Again

A Ventura man who tied up traffic by threatening to jump off the Seaward Avenue overpass last month returned to his perch and forced officers to shut down the Ventura Freeway for two hours Tuesday morning.

Police were alerted that Kevin Olejniczak, 29, had climbed onto the freeway sign about 5:30 a.m. Shortly after they arrived, Ventura police and California Highway Patrol officers blocked a section of the freeway until officers were able to coax him down just after 8 a.m.

“We got on the scene this time and already had a plan ready to go,” said Ventura Police Sgt. George Morris.

Police commandeered three trucks and had them park side by side under the sign. “That reduced the distance he would fall, so we knew that if he jumped he would not be seriously hurt,” Morris said. “Then we went out and got him.”

Olejniczak was arrested at the scene on several misdemeanor violations, including disrupting the flow of traffic and trespassing on a freeway right of way, Morris said.

“I don’t know what more we can do to prevent this kind of thing,” Morris said. “You can fence the place off, but if people want to get to it, they’ll get to it.”

The last time Olejniczak threatened to commit suicide, he said it was because he was despondent over a recent breakup with a girlfriend, police said. This time, according to Morris, “he just wanted attention.”