Man Dies After Jumping From Freeway Overpass

Published: 09/08/2022

MAN DIES AFTER JUMPING FROM FREEWAY OVERPASS

 

RIVERSIDE, CA – On Saturday, September 3, 2022 at approximately 5:11 p.m., the California Highway Patrol – Riverside Area requested assistance from our officers for a suicidal man who was threatening to jump from the overpass on the southbound 215 Freeway at the 60 Freeway.  The man stopped on the overpass in a U-Haul box truck and had told CHP he had explosives affixed to himself and inside the vehicle, and was making threats to use them.

 

The Riverside Police Department responded to assist CHP with officers from the Emergency Negotiations Team (ENT), Technical Services Unit (Bomb Squad), K-9, SWAT, along with two armored rescue vehicles (ARV). 

 

This incident lasted approximately two hours during which the man had got in and out of the U-Haul several times with a large duffel bag and sat on or leaned against the freeway overpass wall threatening to jump.  CHP and ENT officers talked with him but he refused any assistance or to surrender.  For the man’s safety and that of the stopped motorists and first responders, the two ARV’s were positioned to block the man’s attempts to flee and endanger others using the U-Haul.

 

The man held an edged weapon while still refusing to surrender.  Once back inside the U-Haul, he cut both his wrists with the weapon.  He was resistant to all attempts to get him to stop harming himself and peacefully surrender, including after less lethal options were deployed.  The man eventually ran from the U-Haul and leaped from the overpass onto a field below.  He was contacted by CHP and paramedics with the Riverside Fire Department then taken to a local hospital in critical condition.  He later succumbed to injuries sustained from his actions. 

 

After a search of the U-Haul, no explosives were located.  The man’s identity is being held pending the completion of the Riverside County Sheriff-Coroner’s investigation.

 

In accordance with Riverside Police Department policy regarding in-custody death investigations, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department’s Force Investigations Detail responded and assumed the investigation.  Anyone with additional information should contact Riverside Sheriff’s Department Investigator Jim Dickey at (951) 955-2777 or [email protected].

 

The Riverside Police Department and our law enforcement partners would like to remind everyone that the National Suicide Prevention 988 Lifeline is now active across the United States.  When people call, text, or chat 988, they will be connected to trained counselors that are part of the existing Lifeline network.  These counselors will listen, understand how their problems are affecting them, provide support, and connect them to resources if necessary.  To learn more about the 9-8-8 Lifeline, visit www.988Lifeline.org.