Shortcut leaves mans stuck over Des Plaines River (Trib Local)

Shortcut leaves mans stuck over Des Plaines River
By Dennis Sullivan Special to Tribune
6/9/2011 at 5:51 a.m.

A 27-year-old Tinley Park man who tried taking a shortcut over the Des Plaines River in Joliet found himself up in the air after the railroad bridge he was on returned to its upright position.

Chief Fred Hays said on Tuesday Salvador Rojas of the 7300 block of Sandalwood Drive made a 911 call to the police station a few blocks to the north, reporting he was on an elevator.

“It’s not an elevator, it’s an elevated bridge,” Hays said, explaining it lowers only long enough to allow trains to pass over the river. “Once it goes up, you can’t get down,” he said.

The bridge tender lowered the bridge and police took Rojas into custody on the misdemeanor charge. Court hearing information was unavailable Wednesday June 8. He remained in the Will County Adult Detention Facility on a hold placed by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

Hays said pedestrians rarely trespass on the bridge; the last incident, approximately two years ago, involved a man who threatened to jump. Police talked him down, Hays said.