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An officer trained to deal with mentally ill people helped prevent a possible suicide attempt Saturday.

(The Oregonian/File)

Portland Police officers used the promise of a sandwich to lure a suicidal naked man off a downtown parking structure Saturday.

At 11:10 a.m., officers from Central Precinct responded to a call about a naked man, possibly armed with a knife, who was acting as if he planned to jump off the parking garage at Southwest 15th Avenue and Southwest Yamhill Street, according to the Police Bureau.

The man was cutting himself with the knife and suffering from some type of mental health crisis. An officer with special training in mental health work talked to the man and learned that he was hungry. Officers got the man a sandwich from the nearby Hotel Deluxe, convinced him to step away from the garage ledge and took him into custody.

The man was taken to a hospital for evaluation. Police said he might face criminal charges related to vandalism of cars parked in the garage.

The officer who led the effort to remove the man from the ledge is part of Portland's Enhanced Crisis Intervention Team, created last year at the urging of federal investigators as a way to improve police interactions with people suffering from mental illness. In 2012, The U.S. Department of Justice found that Portland police engaged in a pattern of excessive force against people with mental illness.