Suicide attempt delays traffic on I-5 at 128th

EVERETT – A suicidal man perched on the edge of the 128th St. overpass above I-5 brought freeway traffic to a halt for half an hour Sunday, until police convinced him to climb onto a waiting rescue ladder.

Firefighters were called to the scene south of Everett at 12:23 p.m. A man had stripped down to his underwear and climbed from the overpass onto a sign hanging above the northbound lanes of I-5, according to Leslie Hynes, spokeswoman for Fire District 1.

The man was 29-years-old, and had left a nearby home, where he had told a woman he was going to jump off an overpass, said Jan Jorgensen, Snohomish County Sheriff’s spokeswoman. That woman called 911, Jorgensen said.

Southbound and northbound lanes were closed while the fire district brought in a truck equipped with a ladder. A Snohomish County Sheriff’s deputy persuaded the man to climb onto the ladder, where a firefighter was waiting, according to Hynes.

The man was taken by ambulance to Providence Everett Medical Center’s Colby Campus for evaluation, she said.

During a similar incident on a Seattle bridge in August motorists yelled at a 26-year-old woman, urging her to jump. After four hours, she did. She survived the fall into the canal joining Lake Washington and Lake Union.

Hynes said motorists Sunday were quiet during the incident.

Lynnwood

Two injured in accident: Two people were injured Saturday evening after the cars they were driving collided near Lynnwood.

A Ford Escort driven by Matthew R. Greenway had stopped in the northbound lane of 39th Avenue at the intersection with Highway 524, when another northbound car collided with the Escort, pushing it into the intersection, according to the Washington State Patrol.

Greenway, a 28-year-old from Bothell, was taken to Stevens Hospital in Edmonds, as was the driver of the other car, 56-year-old Karen K. Lee of Bothell, according to the State Patrol.

A Stevens Hospital official confirmed Greenway was admitted to the emergency room, but did not have information about his status. There was no information about Lee available.

From Herald staff reports

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