CHP officer, passing drivers rescue man who jumped from overpass

A man died Thursday night after stepping into the path of a car on Interstate 80 in Vallejo, triggering a chain reaction crash. A man died Thursday night after stepping into the path of a car on Interstate 80 in Vallejo, triggering a chain reaction crash. Photo: California Highway Patrol / Photo: California Highway Patrol / Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close CHP officer, passing drivers rescue man who jumped from overpass 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A California Highway Patrol officer, with the help of several Good Samaritan motorists, helped rescue a man who had jumped off an overpass on Highway 101 in San Francisco, in a dramatic Sunday afternoon incident that also prompted a CHP helicopter to land on the freeway.

The CHP received a report about 4:50 p.m. of a man running in the southbound lanes of Highway 101 just north of Cesar Chavez Street, said Vu Williams, a public information officer for the CHP’s Golden Gate division.

Williams, who was on patrol, said he arrived at the scene about 4:58 p.m. and saw the man had jumped over the center divider and was by that time running in the northbound lanes. Officers stopped traffic on the freeway to chase the man.

“When he saw us coming, he ran to the east side of the freeway and jumped over the rail,” Williams said.

The man was hanging onto the guardrail, dangling about 30 feet from the ground below. “I grabbed his wrist,” Williams said. “He was yelling and rambling pretty incoherently.”

Three or four drivers who were caught in the backup then ran over to the guardrail to help Williams hang onto the man.

The CHP helicopter had been flying over the scene tracking the man. “When they saw us hanging on to him, they landed and helped take the party into custody,” Williams said.

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It was not clear why the man, whom Williams described as in his late 20s or early 30s, was running on the freeway. But he was not hit by any car and was not injured, Williams said.

Police took the man to nearby Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, where he was held for a mental health evaluation.

Benny Evangelista is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: bevangelista@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ChronicleBenny