Santa Barbara police successfully stop man from jumping off overpass

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Crews with the Santa Barbara Police Department successfully prevented a man from jumping off of the La Cumbre overpass Thursday morning.

Officers said they received several 911 calls around 7:15 a.m. reporting that a man had accessed the opposite side of the fencing on the overpass above the northbound lanes of Highway 101.

By the time they arrived, police said they found the 55-year-old man hanging by his fingertips over the flowing traffic and saying things about harming himself.

Police immediately closed the northbound lanes of the freeway with help from CHP while one officer began speaking with the distraught man.

Fortunately, the officer was able to convince the man to crawl to the north side of the overpass where other officers helped pull him to safety. 

Due to the nature of this event and in an effort to preserve and value the sanctity of life, SBPD’s co-response unit responded to the area. The SBPD co-response team consists of an officer who has extensive training in Crisis Intervention Training and de-escalation who is partnered with an experienced clinician from Behavioral Wellness.