Police on Wednesday lauded an Azusa man who helped stop a 16-year-old girl from jumping off a freeway overpass in Azusa earlier this week.

Joseph Beltran climbed over a chain link fence and held onto the teen before officers and firefighters arrived.

“I was holding her sweater. I was holding her arm and telling her that this was not the way,” Beltran said during a Facebook Live interview with Azusa Police Officer Mike Bires.

After the Monday rescue, the teen was taken to a hospital.

‘What he (Beltran) did clearly was above and beyond what a normal citizen would do,” Azusa Police Chief Steve Hunt said.

The incident started shortly after 6 p.m. Monday when police received calls of a possible jumper on the Cerritos Avenue overpass of the 210 Freeway.

Beltran and his wife were driving by when they saw the teen outside the chain link fence. He also saw two people he assumed were the girl’s relatives calling police. Beltran’s wife pulled over and told him to talk to the teen. He headed toward the girl.

“I was talking to her. She started getting a little closer and closer to the edge,” Beltran said. “I asked her name. I was just trying to buy time. And after awhile she started slipping.”

Beltran climbed the fence and grabbed the teen’s sweater and arm.

“I was headfirst hanging over the fence,” he said.

“And I was trying to coax her out of it. I got a boost from an officer and another lady that was here. I was fearing for her safety. I tried to make sure that she was OK.”

Police and firefighters arrived. One officer handed handcuffs to Beltran and told him to handcuff the girl to the fence which he did. Officers held onto the teen’s clothing.

“Fire personnel utilized a ladder, with a firefighter tethered by a safety harness, to gain full control over the teen. They were then able to cut a large hole in the chain link fence and move her to the safety of the sidewalk,” Bires said in a statement.

Some officers were treated at a hospital for puncture wounds and lacerations then released, according to Bires.

Beltran said he was proud of everbody’s actions and called it a group effort.