Man jumps from Edison power pole

Pasadena man leaps after 6 hour stand-off

A man was taken to Huntington hospital for psychological observation after he jumped from a utility tower Friday night on the south west corner of Colorado and Kinneloa Streets.
The man fell about 65 feet and landed on an air bag that Pasadena firefighters placed under the Edison tower as a precaution.
The initial call was at 3:38 p.m. when police received a call about a man on a tower at Kinneloa Avenue and Colorado Boulevard apparently as a result of a domestic dispute with his wife. Officers at one point appeared to bring the man’s dog, a Dalmatian, in the hope that the canine companion would calm him down.
When this failed and the negotiations appeared a standstill, the fire dept. brought in a ladder truck to rescue the man but the suspect quickly refused to let the firefighters any closer and asked them to leave gesturing with his hand while holding on to the pole with his other arm.
The distraught male who appeared to be late 30’s – 40’s was clinging on to the Edison tower while talking with one of two female officers below assigned as the crisis counselor(s) on scene. The Pasadena officers urged the suspect, who officers called Mike, to come down carefully but he kept looking at the tower anticipating a further climb.
The police department’s crisis negotiating team were talking to the man at 10:10 p.m., when the suspect jumped. The man wasn’t injured but very cold after being up the tower for about 8 hours.

-Photos by Terry Miller

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