Suicide Attempts Los Angeles County

A 25-year-old unemployed Long Beach man, who clung to a narrow ledge of the Lakewood Boulevard overpass of the San Diego Freeway threatening to jump, caused the closure of the busy northbound lanes for three hours during the Friday night rush hour until a friend talked him down, authorities reported. Police said the man identified only as "Mark" was under the influence of amphetamines and had ridden his bicycle to the scene.

A Downey man was in critical condition Thursday after allegedly stabbing his former girlfriend to death then turning the knife on himself, authorities said. Martin Garcia, 27, was at La Palma Intercommunity Hospital in Orange County with numerous self-inflicted knife wounds, Sheriff's Deputy Roger Hom said. Authorities believe Garcia is responsible for the stabbing death of his 35-year-old former girlfriend inside her Hawaiian Gardens apartment Wednesday night.

A Burbank man charged with killing two women and injuring two others in a shooting spree at a neighbor's house turned himself in early Friday, ending a police search and relieving members of his family who feared that he might take his own life. Thomas Paul Humenik, 25, walked into the Burbank Police Department with a friend and surrendered about 12:50 a.m., Lt. Bob Giles said. He was being held without bail at Men's Central Jail in Los Angeles.

A man described as despondent drove his sports car over a 250-foot oceanside cliff on the Palos Verdes Peninusla early Tuesday, but miraculously survived the crash into the rocks below. "The car landed right on its nose, and the guy had only a few scratches," Police Sgt. George Hanes said. "I've never seen anything like it." Witnesses said they saw Scott Fischer, 30, slowly drive his Alfa Romeo convertible over a curb in the exclusive Palos Verdes Estates about 1 a.m.

A bronze medal winner in the 1964 Olympic springboard diving competition, who recently made a death-defying leap from a 160-foot harbor bridge, was talked down from another bridge, authorities said. Larry Andreasen was convinced by police not to jump from the Vincent Thomas Bridge between San Pedro and Terminal Island on Tuesday, Los Angeles Port Police Sgt. Dale Dupler said.

An agitated father jumped off a third-floor balcony with his 4-month-old daughter Saturday afternoon, but Burbank police and firefighters caught the man and his child in midair and--after a struggle--pulled them both to safety, authorities said. "It was an incredible thing," said Police Lt. Larry Koch. "He went over the side, but before he went very far, the officers reached over the balcony and grabbed him. He released the child, and the child started to free fall.

A Burbank man who struggled with police and firefighters trying to stop him from jumping off a third-floor balcony with his infant daughter was sentenced Friday to two years in state prison for child endangerment. Pasadena Superior Court Judge Jack Tso sentenced Rudolfo Regalado, 31, in the Dec. 22 incident at Regalado's apartment on Naomi Street.

A Burbank man who struggled with police and firefighters fighting to keep him from jumping off a third-floor balcony with his infant daughter was sentenced Friday to two years in state prison for child endangerment. Pasadena Superior Court Judge Jack Tso sentenced Rudolfo Regalado, 31, in the dramatic Dec. 22 incident at Regalado's apartment on Naomi Street.

A distraught 35-year-old Highland Park woman set herself ablaze on a neighborhood street early Saturday morning, suffering third-degree burns on 90% of her body, a Los Angeles police spokesman said. Horrified neighbors saw Louisa Jiminez of 5514 Marmion Way engulfed in flames about 6:15 a.m., police said. One neighbor who ran to extinguish the flames with a garden hose told police that Jiminez tried to wave him away.

A Monterey Park mother stabbed her two young children to death Sunday before attempting to take her own life, police said. Diana Covarrubias, 25, was taken to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center where she was treated for stab wounds and booked on suspicion of murder, investigators said. Police called the stabbings a homicide and suicide attempt. The incident occurred at 1:45 p.m. in an apartment in the 1400 block of College View Drive in Monterey Park.