Nearly naked man who scaled Los Angeles freeway sign causes traffic jam

Ryan W. Miller | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Shirtless man climbs sign, brings massive traffic jam to Los Angeles Shirtless man scaling exit sign brings massive traffic jam to downtown L.A.

A shirtless man clad in only boxer briefs and white sneakers forced Los Angeles traffic on the 110 freeway to a halt Wednesday when he scaled a highway sign, adorned it with protest banners and began dancing.

Self-identified as "Dephree," the man unraveled posters with the messages "Fight pollution, not each other" and "Give a hoot, don’t pollute" inscribed on them, creating a spectacle on the highway Wednesday morning.

Witnesses told the Los Angeles Times the man freestyle rapped, vaped and shouted that he loved God.

Within an hour and a half, police shut down all southbound lanes. The usually log-jammed Los Angeles traffic was delayed even further, causing a miles-long back-up that spread to nearby highways and downtown streets.

He just said: “My name is Dephree and I love God.” pic.twitter.com/UXnMLjRkNE — Benjamin Oreskes🦅 (@boreskes) June 27, 2018

Officers eventually scaled the sign and followed him in cranes in an attempt to get the man down from his perch, but he evaded them by climbing to the top of the structure and then taunted them.

Authorities placed two large, yellow inflatables below the sign and ladders resting on its sides to try to help the man down safely.

Ending his performance, "Dephree" backflipped onto one of the inflatables and was quickly greeted by officers who rushed into arrest the man.

Dephree has just done a backflip of the sign. pic.twitter.com/d5qh6qybQ6 — Benjamin Oreskes🦅 (@boreskes) June 27, 2018

The Times later identified the man as Alexander Dunn, 29, who the newspaper reported was booked on suspicion of delaying a police officer, trespassing on state property and failure to obey a regulatory sign.

Contributing: The Associated Press. Follow Ryan Miller on Twitter @RyanW_Miller