Police closed down the Interstate 5 Bridge in both directions Monday night as they searched for a shirtless man who reportedly had been running through traffic in the southbound lanes.
Portland police were dispatched to the bridge at about 10:15 p.m. after receiving reports of the man running in traffic and one report that a man was on the edge of the bridge with something tied around his neck, according to a news release from the Portland Police Bureau.
When officers arrived, they saw the man running north in the northbound lanes of the freeway and then they lost sight of him. He was described as a white man in his 40s, about 6 feet 3 inches tall with a heavy build, and he was wearing no shirt and tan pants. Police searched the area, including sidewalks on the bridge, and the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office River Patrol searched the Columbia River.
Police found the man on the bridge and took him into custody in the northbound lanes of traffic, according to the Portland Police Bureau. The man, whose name was not released, was evaluated to assess his physical and mental condition.
Both directions of the bridge reopened to traffic before midnight.
