Police rescue person who threatened to jump from Little Rock bridge

Police lights are shown in this file photo.
Police lights are shown in this file photo.

Little Rock police talked down a man after he threatened to jump from a bridge over the Arkansas River during the Tuesday morning rush hour, a police spokesman said. Responding officers found a 28-year-old man who was crying as he stood on the top rail of the Main Street Bridge just before 8:15 a.m., according to a police report.

Police said the man appeared to be having a mental health crisis, telling officers he had just lost his job before appearing to lean backward over the rail.

An officer was able to speak to the man about his 8-year-old son.

"I was able (to) speak with him long enough to convince him that he needed to live to be a father to his child," the officer wrote in the report.

The report detailed how the officer crossed over the rail and helped the man to safety, holding his hand along the way.

The man was brought to a local hospital for evaluation following the three-minute-long exchange, Little Rock Police Department spokesman officer Eric Barnes said.

Police briefly closed a lane of traffic on the bridge.

NW News on 01/23/2019

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