A distraught man perched on a Mission Valley freeway bridge snarled traffic for nearly a day until he safely jumped into a patch of shrubbery Friday and was taken into custody.
The 36-year-old man, whose name was withheld, climbed over a railing on the connector from northbound Interstate 5 to westbound Interstate 8 shortly before 2:30 p.m. Thursday, according to San Diego Police.
Authorities shut down the connector along with the southbound lanes of I- 5 and the ramp from westbound I-8 to northbound I-5 while officers and crisis negotiators tried to talk the man into getting down off the precipice.
The standoff and lane closures continued overnight, creating extensive gridlock and necessitating detours through both the evening and morning commutes.
Finally, about 11:30 a.m., the man jumped off the overpass, landing on a landscaped embankment and suffering minor injuries, SDPD Sgt. Ray Battrick said. Medics took him to UCSD Medical Center.
“Jumped in the dirt, taken into custody…in the process of clearing roadway,” a California Highway Patrol dispatcher reported at 11:53 a.m. Ten minutes later crews were reopening the freeway.
All affected lanes were open again as of shortly after noon.
The man will be held for mental-health tests and could face criminal charges over the standoff, depending on the results of the screenings, CHP spokesman Jake Sanchez told reporters.
City News Service contributed to this article.
