Police talk Lackland instructor off highway overpass

San Antonio police shut down a busy portion of a North Side highway intersection for the better part of an hour Saturday afternoon after a man threatened to jump off a ramp.

Brent Boller, a spokesman for Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, later said the man is an instructor at the base — where 25 military trainers have either gone to trial or are under investigation on charges of having illicit personal relationships with trainees.

Police said they got a report that a vehicle had stalled on the ramp linking the eastbound lanes of Loop 410 to U.S. 281 about 12:30 p.m. They found a man who had climbed out of the car and was threatening to jump off the overpass onto the freeway below.

Authorities did not identify the man Saturday. But WOAI-TV reported that he had called a reporter and said his legal troubles were too much to handle. He was depressed that he couldn't visit his children over the holidays because he was under house arrest, the station reported Saturday night.

WOAI learned the man's location and notified police.

It took police about 45 minutes to talk him down without incident, SAPD spokesman Officer Matthew Porter said.

nhicks@express-news.net

Express-News Staff Writers John Tedesco and Sig Christenson contributed to this report.