Man Held for Allegedly Pushing Woman Off Cliff

A 32-year-old San Jacinto man was arrested Thursday on suspicion of trying to kill his former girlfriend by pushing her into a deep ravine in the foothills north of Irvine.

Bryan John Klein was arrested in Riverside by Orange County sheriff’s deputies. He is being held without bail at Orange County Jail on suspicion of attempted murder.

Police contend that Klein tried to break Wendy Mason’s neck and then pushed her from a cliff. She landed in a tree, where she remained for several hours before passing bicyclists heard her cries for help.

“The last thing she remembers is being above the ravine,” sheriff’s spokesman Jon Fleischman said. “Then when she woke up, she was down below.”

Police said they believe the 33-year-old Santa Ana woman was unconscious when she was pushed off the cliff in a secluded area west of Limestone Canyon Regional Park. Mason remained in guarded condition Thursday at Western Medical Center--Santa Ana.

Even though she had a restraining order against Klein, Mason agreed Wednesday to take an early morning drive with her ex-boyfriend, police said. After Klein allegedly pushed her off the cliff, Mason fell about 25 feet before landing in a tree jutting out from the ravine wall. Had her fall not been broken, she probably would have been killed, police said.

Three bicyclists--one an off-duty Huntington Beach firefighter--heard Mason’s cries for help shortly before 11 a.m. and called police. It took rescue workers more than an hour to lift the semiconscious woman to safety.