Highway 198 shut down after man tosses bike, threatens to jump

Visalia police officers safely removed a distraught man off a Highway 198 overpass, but not before he tossed a bicycle at a patrol car and then threatened to jump.

The incident began to unfold Wednesday night as an officer was traveling south on Akers Street. As the car neared the highway at 7:39 p.m., someone threw a bicycle in the officer’s direction.

In the minutes that followed, police said, the man made multiple threats to jump from the overpass and the highway was shut down.

It took about 30 minutes, but officers were able to remove him from the ledge.

The man was taken to Kaweah Delta Medical Center for evaluation. His name was not released, but there was no indication that charges would be pursued.

This story was originally published August 17, 2017 at 12:04 AM with the headline "Highway 198 shut down after man tosses bike, threatens to jump."