The Main Street Bridge between Little Rock and North Little Rock was closed for more than three hours Tuesday as police negotiated with a barefoot homeless man threatening to jump.
About 1:10 p.m. Tuesday, John Hall, 63, safely climbed over the railing on the west side of the bridge and was met by authorities and medical personnel. He was taken by ambulance to John L. McClellan Memorial Veterans Hospital in Little Rock for medical treatment.
Police and fire units from Little Rock and North Little Rock responded to the bridge at 10:03 a.m. Tuesday after a passer-by called about a man tying himself to the outside railing.
Responding officers found Hall tied by a rope to the west side railing of the bridge, leaning toward the Arkansas River.
"He was very belligerent and irrational," according to a Little Rock police report.
Hall, who is a Vietnam War veteran, said he was angry because veterans are not being treated right and not receiving needed medical care, the report said.
Hall was also upset about a prior conviction, according to the report. Hall is a level-four sex offender who was convicted of three counts of first-degree sexual abuse, Little Rock police said. Hall has no active warrants, however, police said.
Soon after officers responded, Hall used a knife to cut the rope around his waist that was securing him to the bridge, and he held onto the railing with his hands.
"Officer Jeff Thompson had a rapport with [Hall], and he wanted to talk with Jeff," Little Rock police spokesman Lt. Steven McClanahan said. "They ended up getting him a cheeseburger and some sweet tea, and establishing that rapport. [Hall] eventually gave in."
McClanahan praised Thompson, Sgt. Van Watson and officer Kelly Lepore, who was a negotiator, for their work in getting Hall off the bridge.
While talking with police, Hall cut his arms with his knife several times, although the wounds were superficial, police said. Hall also smoked several cigarettes and drank from an orange Powerade under the intense glare of the late-summer sun.
Later in the ordeal, the camouflage-clad Hall leaned back a few times and moved from standing on one foot to the other before coming back over the railing.
The bridge reopened for traffic about 1:20 p.m.
"We weren't in a hurry," McClanahan said. "Traffic was a secondary issue. Our priority was making sure he got down safely without harming himself."
State Desk on 09/09/2015