Troopers gets man down from interstate overpass

November 13, 2006|by DAVE McMILLION

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - West Virginia State Police were able to pull a man from the edge of the Dry Run Road bridge over Interstate 81 after he threatened to jump from it Sunday morning.

One lane of Interstate 81 was shut down and the bridge was closed as the situation unfolded, state police said in a release.

Troopers M.A. Cole, F.H. Edwards, M.S. Armentrout, B.G. Sites and Sgt. Eric Burnett arrived at the bridge about 11:06 a.m. and learned the man had an extension cord tied around his neck and the other end of the cord tied to his van, the release said.

Police said the man was seated on the edge of the bridge and stated that he was tired of living and he wanted to jump.

Troopers made contact with the man's wife on a cell phone but the man would not talk to her, police said.

Police convinced the man to talk to one of his sons. As the man was talking to one of his sons, one trooper approached the man from behind and another approached the van, the release said.

The man saw the trooper approaching him and told him to stop, police said. The other trooper asked the man if he wanted his van to be turned off and the man said that he did, police said.

The trooper entered the van and pretended he could not find the keys, police said.

The trooper put his hands up to show frustration, police said.

When the trooper brought his hands down, he put the van in drive and hit the gas, police said.

Because the man was holding onto the extension cord so tightly, the moving van caused him to be pulled onto the bridge, at which time troopers took him into custody, police said.

The man was taken to nearby City Hospital for treatment, police said.

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