‘Wanna get a drink?’ Offer of cold beer kept man from jumping off bridge
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Police say two Minnesota beer deliverymen prevented a suicidal man from jumping off an interstate bridge in St. Paul by offering the man a Coors Light.
Authorities say Jason Gaeble and Kwame Anderson were driving their truck Wednesday morning when they spotted the man clinging to the outer fence of the bridge and asked him if he was OK.
Anderson tells the Pioneer Press he recalled negotiating tactics Denzel Washington used in the movie “Inside Man” and tried to build a rapport with the man before offering to talk to him over a beer about what was bothering him. Police say the man then slowly inched his way to safety.
“If you come down from there, do you want to get a drink with me and talk about what’s going on?” Anderson said, according to the Pioneer Press. “I have a pack of Coors Light for you. Follow me.’ ”
Police arrived and closed the interstate until the man came down and was taken to a hospital.
“Beer has been bringing people together for a long, long time,” St. Paul police spokesman Sgt. Mike Ernster told the Pioneer Press. “Today, it brought people together in a life-saving way.”
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