One detained in I-5 freeway disturbance
Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station deputies detained a man Wednesday who reportedly threatened to jump from an overpass, after a reported disturbance on an out-of-town bus trip.
California Highway Patrol officers were alerted to a disturbance inside a bus Wednesday morning on Interstate 5, after a passenger on a Greyhound driving in the northbound lanes allegedly caused the driver to pull over to the shoulder.
A person who appeared to be injured reportedly exited the bus at that point, according to witnesses. The person was described as a man wearing dark clothing and a hooded sweater who exited the bus and walked on the shoulder of I-5, near the Valencia Boulevard exit of the northbound lanes, just before 9 a.m.
Lt. Doug Morhoff, watch commander with the SCV Sheriff’s Station, said deputies were alerted to a person in that area attempting to jump off an I-5 overpass.
“Around that time, we were dealing with the report of a male that wanted to jump off an overpass bridge onto the freeway,” said Morhoff. “I believe that is the individual that was detained at Walmart, but I don’t know anything about a bus.”
Officer Josh Greengard of the
CHP said deputies with the SCV Sheriff’s Station were called in to assist in finding the pedestrian on the freeway.
“We got a call of a male getting off of a blue Greyhound bus,” said Greengard, “I don’t know if he was kicked off of a bus or if he exited on his own. It looks like he ran off the freeway. We were unable to locate him. The sheriff’s were helping us with this.”
The suspect managed to temporarily elude CHP officers, briefly prompting a joint effort with L.A. County deputies assisting in the search.
Deputies detained the individual in the parking lot in front of the Walmart entrance around 10 a.m. during morning shopping traffic.