Would-Be Jumper Blocks Traffic for 3 Hours

A man threatening to jump from an I-15 freeway bridge over the Santa Ana River created a monstrous traffic jam for more than three hours Friday night before he was taken into custody by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

The weekend traffic nightmare began at 6 p.m., when the California Highway Patrol shut down the northbound side of the freeway and negotiators started talking to the potential leaper, who was not immediately identified.

The snarl didn’t begin breaking up until 9:30 p.m., when the man was arrested and the CHP was finally able to reopen the northbound lanes.

By then, northbound traffic had backed up beyond California 91, 15 miles south of the bridge.

Authorities were able to keep the southbound lane open throughout the incident because the freeway diverges into two bridges at the river. The bridges are about 30 to 50 feet above the Santa Ana River, a muddy, shallow waterway. Rescue units were on hand to attempt retrieval of the man if he had jumped.

“We’re here to pull him out,” fire official Clarence Homer said during the impasse. “There’s a lot of rocks, mud about 6 feet deep and silt.’

With nowhere to go, many motorists turned off their engines and got out for a stroll. Others made quick U-turns onto the relatively traffic-free southbound lanes and sped away.

The man apparently had walked onto the bridge, and after the road was blocked he seated himself in the middle lane.

Authorities said he was carrying a “bladed hand weapon,” and whenever officials approached within 20 feet, he threatened to jump.

“He has a problem with law enforcement,” said CHP Sgt. Renee DiFronzo.

DiFronzo said that the man refused to speak to male negotiators and demanded to talk to a woman. A woman was brought in to converse with him.

The man made a number of additional requests, such as asking for a cigarette and a Coke, authorities said. They said that at one point, he was given a cigarette.

It was not immediately clear how the man was apprehended or where he was taken afterward.