Police reopen Maple Street Bridge after two-hour closure

Police closed the Maple Street Bridge for about two hours Thursday morning to negotiate with a man perched on the chain link fence that covers the sidewalk along the west side of the bridge.

The man then crawled northward along the fence, where he dropped to the street and into the custody of police. The bridge was reopened at about 11:30 a.m.

The bridge closure snarled traffic as motorists instead used Monroe, Washington and Division streets to cross the Spokane River.

During the incident, several patrol cars converged on the north side near Kendall Yards around 9:15 a.m. Multiple water rescue crews from the Spokane Fire Department waited under the bridge in case the man jumped.

Some people watched along the Centennial Trail. The man appeared to be in his mid-20s. He was talking on a phone at one point, stopping to smoke while he clung to the fence.