Man Critically Injured After Jumping From Balcony In Hermosa Beach

HERMOSA BEACH, CA – A possibly mentally ill man jumped from a third-floor balcony in Hermosa Beach and was critically injured Sunday evening. Officers responded around 6:30 p.m. to a call of a suspicious person on a balcony in the 200 block of Monterey Boulevard where they found a man sitting on the edge of a third-floor balcony, said Hermosa Beach police Sgt. Robert Higgins.

"The man appeared to be suffering from an unknown type of mental psychosis," Higgins said. "He was talking to and seeing people that were not there and was convinced that someone was trying to kill him."

The man, who is a resident of Temecula, did not live at that location, Higgins said.

Officers began speaking with the man. Crisis negotiators, as well as a mental health clinician responded to the location and engaged the man for nearly two hours, Higgins said.

"During this time it became further evident that he was suffering from some type of severe mental illness," Higgins said.

For an unknown reason while the man was talking to responders, he jumped from the balcony landing on the concrete driveway below, Higgins said.

Authorities immediately started CPR and the man was taken to a hospital in critical condition, Higgins said.

City News Service and Patch staffer Emily Holland contributed to this post; Photo via Patch staffer Renee Schiavone