I-5 traffic near Olympia blocked for an hour as man runs through lanes of freeway

Traffic near exit 105 on Interstate 5 was blocked for roughly an hour Thursday evening while a man ran around the north- and south-bound lanes of the busy freeway.

Just before 5 p.m. Thursday, Washington State Patrol received a call about a man walking on the south-bound lane of I-5 near the 105 on and off ramps.

When WSP officers arrived, they blocked both north- and south-bound traffic so the man would not get injured, Sgt. Darren Wright told The Olympian. The man was acting erratic and carried a stick with him as he walked through the car-free section of freeway, Wright said.

When officers contacted the man, he jumped into the bed of a motorist’s pickup truck, and he was unwilling to get out at first, Wright told The Olympian. WSP officers spoke with the man, eventually coaxing him out of the truck’s bed and into their custody, Wright said.

The man was then taken to a local hospital, Wright said.

The driver of the pickup the man jumped into was unharmed and OK during the incident, according to Wright, and by roughly 6 p.m., both lanes of I-5 were open again.

This story was originally published August 14, 2020 at 8:38 AM.