Man abandons suicide attempt

Jeff Benson and Jimmy Stroup

A Costa Mesa man abandoned a suicide attempt Tuesday when a police

officer, untrained in such a situation, talked him down from the wall

of a local freeway overpass.

The man spent nearly an hour perched on the southern wall of the

Costa Mesa Freeway/Fairview overpass before authorities took him into

protective custody, Costa Mesa Police Cpl. Garth Wilson said.

Wilson, the head of the department’s suicide negotiation team,

said he usually handles the department’s negotiations. But this was a

special case. Wilson said the man had spoken previously and

positively with one of Wilson’s fellow officers, Officer Jason

Chamness, 29, and felt Chamness would better influence his decision.

The officer said he’d had no prior training or experience in

suicide-attempt negotiation.

“Sometimes it’s more advantageous to have someone else negotiate,

if they’ve had a previous relationship,” Wilson said. “It puts that

person at ease. He decided to be cooperative with Officer Chamness,

which was good. It had a happy ending.”

Chamness was all smiles after his first negotiation.

“I’m proud to do what I do today because I really felt like I

saved someone’s life,” he said. “It was definitely a gratifying

experience.”

Police responded after receiving a call from the man, said Costa

Mesa Police Sgt. Bob Durham. He called from a pay phone in the 1900

block of Newport Boulevard, Durham said.

It’s rare to get calls from people who are about to jump off an

overpass, Durham said.

“We often get calls from people who’ve spotted a jumper,” he said.

“But I don’t remember getting a phone call from the jumper.”

Wilson said police arrived at around 11:30 a.m. to block off the

freeway traffic moving north and begin negotiation. They were in the

process of shutting down the side headed south approximately 30

minutes later when the man surrendered.

The man was then transported to Emergency Triage Support in Santa

Ana for a 72-hour psychiatric evaluation, Wilson said. He added that

the man was “around 40,” seemed despondent and had arrived at the

location on a beach cruiser-style bicycle, which authorities later

confiscated.

Wilson said he believed the man had been sitting or standing close

to the overpass wall for 30 minutes before he notified police and

fire crews. All traffic moving north was diverted to surface streets

until about 12:05 p.m., several minutes after the man was taken away

in a police cruiser.

“Any time we can get them on this side of the bridge, it’s a

successful negotiation,” Wilson said.