Man jumps to his death off Colorado Street bridge

A 57-year-old man jumped to his death off the Colorado Street bridge Tuesday night, according to Pasadena police.

The man was identified on Wednesday as Douglas Howard Balding of Los Angeles, according to L.A County Coroner’s Office Assistant Chief Ed Winter.

A witness driving on the bridge around 8 p.m. reported seeing a man who appeared distraught standing outside the bridge’s railing, said Lt. Tom Delgado. But once past the man, the driver looked back, but the man was gone.

Emergency crews arrived and found Balding’s body in the wash below the bridge.

More than 100 people have ended their lives by jumping from the Colorado Street Bridge, which at its highest point is 148.5 feet.

Pasadena officials announced last week that they plan to install signs on the bridge that will encourage despondent people considering suicide to seek help rather than jumping.

City workers will install two 12- by 18-inch metal signs at each end of the 100-year-old bridge sometime during the next two months.

-- Mark Kellam, mark.kellam@latimes.com

Follow on Twitter: @LAMarkKellam.