HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA. A man perched on a light pole along an overpass on the 405 Freeway brought southbound traffic to a halt on Thursday afternoon, according to local authorities and witnesses caught in the resulting jam.
The scene unfolded shortly after 12:30 p.m. near the Beach Boulevard exit, when the man, wearing an orange shirt and jeans, was seen holding onto a light pole close to the edge of the overpass. California Highway Patrol officials confirmed they were alerted to the situation around 12:35 p.m. and said the man appeared to be intoxicated.
What started as a partial slowdown quickly grew into a full closure. Both northbound and southbound lanes near Beach Boulevard were shut down as officers worked to safely resolve the standoff, leaving thousands of drivers stuck in place for hours.
By around 2:03 p.m., a single lane was reopened to allow limited traffic through, though a hard closure was later reinstated as crews continued their response.
Drivers Describe Hours Stuck In Place
ORANGE COUNTY, CA. Commuters took to social media throughout the afternoon to document the standstill, with many reporting they had been stopped in place for over an hour with no clear timeline for reopening. Some drivers said they abandoned the freeway entirely, opting for side streets or alternate routes through the 5 and 22 freeways to reach their destinations.
Local law enforcement remained on scene for several hours, working to bring the situation to a safe resolution. Authorities said the man was taken into custody at approximately 3:15 p.m., after which crews began reopening the affected lanes to relieve the backup that had built up for miles in both directions.
The incident is the latest reminder of how a single roadside emergency can ripple across an entire regional commute, snarling traffic for tens of thousands of drivers well beyond the immediate area of the closure.
As of Thursday evening, CHP had not released further details about the man’s identity or condition following the incident.
Traffic in the area gradually returned to normal later that evening, though many drivers reported lingering delays on nearby surface streets as the backlog cleared.
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