Suicidal man jumps, lands alive in bushes off I-5 at I-8

A suicidal man who perched for 21 hours on the railing of Interstate 5 near Old Town ended what California Highway Patrol officers said was the longest such standoff in memory by dropping onto some bushes, landing with minor injuries Friday.

The ordeal wreaked havoc on the Thursday evening commute and again in the morning with the closure of southbound lanes of I-5 at Rosecrans Street, and northbound lanes to west Interstate 8.

Three alternating teams of law enforcement crisis negotiators had been talking to the 38-year-old man since he was first noticed on the north I-5 overpass to west I-8 about 2:30 p.m. Thursday.

Authorities did not reveal what they learned about the man, or why he wanted to end his life. But they said they were not going to rush him, regardless of how impatient motorists might be at the detours and delays he caused.

“Our chief concern is public safety,” said police Sgt. Ray Battrick. “We’ll take as long as it takes to help this person out of crisis.”

San Diego police got a notice about 12:30 p.m. Thursday that a man had made threats to kill himself by jumping off an unspecified bridge, CHP Officer Jake Sanchez said.

Two hours later, a man was seen on the ledge of the I-5 overpass.

The CHP quickly blocked traffic “for the safety of the individual and the motorists below,” Sanchez said. And the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department placed a giant inflated airbag beneath the man.

Many commuters initially were halted close enough to see the man and hear some of his comments.

Daniel Armenta, 33, said he and other northbound motorists got stopped on I-5 directly below the overpass for about 25 minutes on Thursday afternoon before traffic was diverted.

“He was very erratic,” Armenta said of the man’s behavior. He said the man alternately stood and sat on a rail on the edge, saying “Sorry, mom” and “Sorry, dad.”

“His actions were as if he was going to jump. I started to pray for him,” Armenta said.

A woman on the overpass who called the man “babe” repeatedly pleaded with him to step away from the edge, Armenta said.

Traffic is still snarled on I-5 south as jumper on I-5 I-8 interchange. San Diego police negotiators have been talking to the man since after he was first noticed on the I-5 overpass about 2:30 p.m. Thursday.

(John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune)

Police Capt. Mike Hastings, who supervises the emergency negotiating teams, said every situation of dealing with a suicidal person is different, calling for a different pace and tactics in negotiating.

“The preservation of life is always paramount,” Hastings said. “I know drivers are concerned. But the guy out there is in crisis.”

In the end, about 11:30 a.m. Friday, the man climbed outside the railing along the edge over southbound I-5 lanes and deliberately moved to the far right side away from the airbag. He clung there for some moments, then let go, falling backwards onto bushes about 15 feet below. He asked officers nearby for assistance, and he was put on a gurney, then into an ambulance, Sanchez said.

The man was taken to a hospital for a mental health evaluation.

While CHP officers were busy with the freeway closures and assisting police crisis negotiators in Old Town, authorities reported three suicides in a two-hour period.

In Oceanside, a woman ran in front of a southbound Amtrak train at Cassidy Street about 9:20 a.m. Friday. The train was held until almost noon for an investigation. About 10:45 a.m., a woman parked her car on the San Diego-Coronado Bridge and jumped to her death, and about the same time, a man shot himself on Interstate 8, east of Willows Road.

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San Diego County has seen several other prolonged freeway closures while negotiators tried to talk someone off an overpass.

• In 2011, a man remained on the 30th Street bridge over state Route 94 for 19 hours before he was taken into custody.
• In 2012, an emotionally unstable man in his 60s sat on a freeway sign at Balboa Avenue over Interstate 805 overnight for nine hours before climbing down on a fire truck ladder.
• Later that year, on Dec. 28, two suicidal men closed different freeways — Interstate 805 at 47th Street for seven hours and state Route 163 in Balboa Park for one hour — before surrendering.

According to the San Diego County Suicide Prevention Council, there were 427 suicides in the county in 2015, just slightly more than one a day.

Anyone who has suicidal thoughts or is in an emotional crisis can talk to counselors at the National Suicide Prevention hotline, (800) 273-8255 or the San Diego Access & Crisis hotline at (888) 724-7240.

Helpful resources may be obtained at www.Up2SanDiego.org and at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in San Diego at (855) 869-2377.

Staff writer David Hernandez and staff researcher Merrie Monteagudo contributed to this story.