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Police: Suicidal man caused freeway closure

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After holding up freeway traffic for more than three hours in a drug-fueled delirium, a Norwalk man who threatened suicide off a freeway interchange was talked off the ledge and arrested, police said Thursday.

Dat Truong, 46, was booked on suspicion of being in possession of a controlled substance, under the influence of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia after police tackled him atop the southbound 55 and 73 freeway interchange.

The California Highway Patrol first got calls about a man on the ledge of the freeway and his car parked on the southbound 55 Freeway to 73 interchange, a tall, curving portion of the freeway near the Orange County Fairgrounds about 5:48 a.m., authorities said.

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The CHP shut down the freeway. A Costa Mesa police hostage negotiator successfully talked Truong off the ledge after about two and a half hours, then two officers rushed him and took him into custody, police said. No one was injured in the incident.

Truong is being held in Orange County Jail in lieu of $20,000 bail. The freeway was re-opened shortly after 8 a.m.

—Joseph Serna

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