Assault suspect flees on foot into Bay Bridge traffic

A suspect involved in a standoff that slowed traffic on the Bay Bridge for nearly six hours overnight had allegedly attacked a woman near the Transbay Terminal a short time earlier, San Francisco police and California Highway Patrol officials said today.

San Francisco police said the attack was reported at 10:41 p.m.

Wednesday, after the suspect, a 21-year-old man, allegedly tackled a 22-year-old woman in the area of Main and Howard streets and refused to let her go.

The man allegedly bit the woman on the arm and had to be pulled off of her by bystanders before he fled on foot.

The CHP began receiving reports of a pedestrian walking on the left shoulder of the bridge’s eastbound lanes shortly after 11 p.m. Callers reported the pedestrian was jumping toward vehicles and putting orange traffic cones into lanes of traffic.

San Francisco police advised the CHP that he might be the same man wanted in the earlier assault, and advised that he should be considered violent, according to CHP Officer Victor Ruiz.

The CHP found the pedestrian in the left eastbound lane west of Treasure Island and began ordering him to stop through a loudspeaker.

Officers moved in and attempted to detain him, but shot him with a Taser stun gun after he made what they believed to be furtive movements “as if reaching for a weapon,” Ruiz said.

The suspect ran east and jumped over the north bridge railing, landing on an external structure of the bridge. He stayed there until around 5:30 a.m., when hostage negotiators successfully talked him into coming back over the rail.

The suspect, whose name has not yet been released, was then taken into custody without further incident.

Up to three lanes of traffic were closed at some points during the incident, according to the CHP. All lanes reopened by around 5:40 a.m.