A naked man climbed the 161-foot bell tower at UC Riverside and threatened to jump before police talked him down, officials said.

Police and fire crews got a call shortly before 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 18, of a possibly suicidal person who climbed to the top of the tower, said Bruce Vanderhorst, a battalion chief with the Riverside Fire Department.

“He threw his robe down and was naked clinging to the top of the bell tower,” Vanderhorst said.

UCR police ascended a stairwell inside the tower to reach the man, a UCR news release stated.

“The subject appeared to be depressed and despondent and told officers God had told him to jump,” the release stated.

An officer convinced the man to come down and he squeezed through the concrete columns into the bell room at the top, Vanderhorst said.

Police and fire personnel assisted in bringing the man down in an elevator.

The man was on the ground a little more than half an hour after crews arrived and taken into custody, Vanderhorst said.

He was transported to Riverside County Regional Medical Center for physical evaluation preceding a 72-hour mental health evaluation, the UCR news release stated.

Staff writer Peter Surowski contributed to this report.