A Sedro-Woolley man who threatened to jump off Deception Pass Bridge shut down traffic at the island bottleneck for several hours Sunday night before authorities took him into custody.

The bridge was closed just before midnight remained closed to traffic for a little more than two hours. During this time, Skagit and Island County law officers were busy talking to a 44-year-old man who apparently considered taking his life, according to Washington State Patrol Sgt. Bryan Stookey.

The State Patrol received a call at 11:33 p.m. Sunday saying someone was tying a rope to the bridge. Trooper Darren Hettinger arrived five minutes later to find the man with a 20-foot tow strap tied around his neck and the other end tied to the bridge. The man had a six pack of beer with him, and his white Ford Bronco was parked at the north end of the bridge.

Around 11:41 p.m. Skagit County Deputy Rhonda Lasley arrived. The man was belligerent and was drinking from the six pack while Hettinger and Lasley attempted to keep a dialogue going with him.

The man, reportedly the owner of a towing company in Monroe, was upset at Monroe police and the city of Monroe, Stookey said.

The Skagit County Sheriff’s Office ran a check on the man and found he didn’t have much of a criminal history. It was unclear why the man felt animosity toward Monroe and its police force, Stookey said.

After about an hour of drunken hollering, the man climbed under the bridge and out of sight of officers, who launched a boat in order to put a spotlight on the bridge and find where the man had gone.

“We were worried that he was going to fall due to intoxication,” Stookey said.

They found the man was walking along a 2-foot-wide pipe that runs directly under the bridge walkway. The man eventually returned to clinging to the outside railing of the bridge.

The man soon began conversing with Lasley and other officers. Officers considered overpowering the man, but didn’t want to risk it, Stookey said.

“We could have a made a grab for him, but just didn’t see any opportunities to do so without seriously putting his life in danger,” he said.

In the end the man voluntarily came back over the railing and gave Lasley a big hug.

“They made a real emotional bond. There were many times that if she wasn’t there I thought he would have jumped. It would have been pretty devastating if after two hours he’d jumped. We’d probably all be in a debriefing right now,” Stookey said.

Traffic was stopped until 2:10 a.m. Cars headed onto Whidbey were scattered in the area between the bridge and Pass Lake. At Pass Lake a few impatient motorists could be heard yelling, “Tell him to jump.”

Lasley took the man to Skagit Valley Hospital in Mount Vernon, where he voluntarily committed himself for mental health evaluation. At the hospital the man was “coherent and very thankful,” Stookey said.