O.C. Freeway Leap Follows Taser Shot
A distraught man jumped from an overpass onto the San Diego Freeway in Westminster on Friday afternoon after police shot him with a Taser gun in an attempt to subdue him, authorities said.
The unidentified man suffered serious injuries from the fall but was not hit by a vehicle.
The incident began about 3 p.m. when the man, standing in traffic near Westminster Boulevard and Edwards Street, walked onto the Westminster Boulevard overpass, Westminster Police Sgt. Cliff Williams said.
The man climbed a fence guarding the railing, and police pulled him down and shot him with the Taser in an attempt to subdue him, Williams said.
Instead, however, Williams said the man got up, ran to the opposite side of the overpass and jumped into the northbound lanes.
California Highway Patrol officers halted all northbound traffic and closed the southbound carpool lane for about 10 minutes until the man was taken by ambulance to a hospital, said CHP Officer David Ferrer.
A Taser gun delivers a 50,000-volt electric shock through barbed darts.
Police did not release the man’s identity because he was not arrested. He was placed in involuntary confinement to evaluate his mental health.
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