Police, firefighters prevent potential suicide Police, firefighters prevent potential suicide (August 18, 2004)

Northbound traffic on U.S. 101 through Menlo Park came to a halt on Sunday afternoon, August 17, as police, the California Highway Patrol and firefighters responded to a 9-1-1 call about a possibly suicidal woman standing on the ledge of the Willow Road overpass.

Arriving on the scene shortly after 4:30 p.m., Menlo Park Police Officer Keith Butler found a woman, approximately 30 years old, clinging to the overpass' safety fence and leaning backwards out over the freeway, said Menlo Park police Sgt. Van Trask.

Mr. Butler grabbed the woman's hand and belt to prevent her from falling or jumping, Sgt. Trask said. Another officer tethered the woman to the fence with a police dog's leash while a third officer talked to the woman "in an effort to calm her," Sgt. Trask said.

Firefighters from the Menlo Park Fire Protection District arrived in a ladder-equipped fire truck and removed the woman from the ledge. She was taken to San Mateo County hospital on a 72-hour hold for mental evaluation, Sgt. Trask said.

The woman's husband -- who made the 9-1-1 call -- said he found his wife climbing on to the ledge after an argument at their East Palo Alto residence, which she had left after telling her husband that she was going to "jump off a bridge," Sgt. Trask said.

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