A 31-year-old man threatening to jump from a bridge halted traffic on the 800 block of University Avenue for approximately one hour Sunday night. UW-Madison Campus Police and Madison Police worked to persuade the man, who was dangling over the outer-side of the Vilas/Humanities bridge, back to safety.
The man, who UW-Madison Police said is not a UW-Madison student, climbed over the bridge shortly before 8 p.m., according to a UW Police statement. Two UW-Madison police officers arrived on the bridge minutes later and began negotiating with the man.
'He was despondent over a failed relationship and some things that came after that,' UW-Madison Police Sergeant Anita Kichefski, an officer on the scene, told The Daily Cardinal. 'He wanted to talk to a detective he's talked to recently.'
Shortly after UW-Madison police officers arrived at the bridge, City of Madison police officers set up a barricade starting at the intersection of University Avenue and Lake Street and more than a dozen police vehicles blanketed the area. City of Madison Police officers also patrolled the area to keep onlookers away from the bridge.
Initially, the man had only one leg dangling over the railing, but later swung his entire body over the outside of the railing and held on by one hand.
Continuously smoking cigarettes, the man proceeded to take something small and metallic out of his shoulder bag and throw it onto the sidewalk near the Humanities Building as he screamed.
The man continued to drape himself over University Avenue, by one hand at times, speaking of a woman who had hurt him.
He then handed the two UW-Madison police officers his shoulder bag and leaned out further from the bridge to urinate onto University Avenue.
UW-Madison Police then brought a female out onto the bridge who talked to the man for approximately 20 minutes.
'You always talk about how Madison is such a big town, but now you're finding out how it's a small town,' she yelled.
After the woman left, the man remained on the bridge until approximately 9:10 p.m. when, according to Kichefski, he came down willingly.
UW-Madison Police took the man to a local hospital and reopened traffic on University Avenue.
