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Beer offer kept Minnesota man from jumping off bridge

Posted at 2:06 PM, Aug 17, 2018
and last updated 2018-08-17 15:06:44-04

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — 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 Gable 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.

Police arrived and closed the interstate until the man came down and was taken to a hospital.