Suicide Victim’s Identification Sought

Authorities are looking for help in identifying a man who killed himself early Friday morning by leaping off a Ventura Freeway bridge over East Main Street in Ventura.

Officers were called to the scene after drivers reported that the man was running in front of cars driving north on the freeway about 1 a.m., said Lt. Steve Bowman, a Ventura Police Department watch commander.

California Highway Patrol officers closed the freeway for about 15 minutes while Ventura police officers talked to the man, who told them he was despondent over a recent divorce, Bowman said.

The officers tried to take the man into custody so that he could be taken to a county mental health facility for observation. But the man broke free and ran to a guardrail on the west side of the freeway and then jumped, officials said. He fell about 40 feet onto Channel Drive, where he died, officials said.

The man was white and about 25 years old. He had brown hair and eyes and was 6 feet, 2 inches tall, weighing 167 pounds. He was wearing a green shirt and blue cutoff sweatpants with “USC” on them, and he had a dark backpack. Other distinguishing features include scars on his left forearm and jagged front teeth.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Sgt. George Morris at 339-4474 or Det. Bob Slay at 339-4463.