http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/06/01/national/main2876651.shtml
CBS/AP) A man climbed the George Washington Bridge and began slashing his arms and wrists with a box cutter in an apparent suicide attempt Friday morning before police and other emergency units were able to rescue him and take him into custody.
The investigation caused a massive traffic jam that stretched for miles.
The police took the man into custody by 8:30 a.m., said Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the storied bridge between New York and New Jersey. The upper level was reopened around 9:30 a.m., said Coleman. Delays were up to two hours.
The man was spotted on one of the cables on the New Jersey side of the bridge around 7 a.m., Coleman said. Port Authority and New York police scaled the cables to talk to him.
The man was spotted on one of the cables on the New Jersey side of the bridge around 7 a.m., Coleman said. Port Authority and New York police scaled the cables to talk to him.
"Our main goal was to isolate and contain him and find out exactly what his problem was," said Detective Tom Driscoll of New York Emergency Services.
But they never did find out why he was up there, reports CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller.
"He said, 'Don't worry about it, get away from me,'" said Driscoll.
The man held crews at bay with a box cutter. When he finally dropped it, rescuers moved in, Miller reports.
The man, who was not immediately identified, was taken to Bergen Regional Medical Center in Paramus, N.J., for evaluation, Coleman said.
Meanwhile, the span's upper level was closed, causing a major traffic backup at the height of the morning rush hour, extending to the various bridge approaches including the Cross Bronx Expressway in New York and Route 46 and the Palisades Parkway in New Jersey.
Cars and trucks were at a standstill for about 2½ miles, beginning at around 8 a.m.
"It's backed up almost to the Whitestone Bridge," Joe Bongiorno, talking on his cell phone, told Fox 5 TV News. "I've never seen anything like this."
The lower level remained open, but trucks are barred from using it. Truck drivers were diverted away from the bridge or simply waited for it to reopen, Coleman said.
