Man who jumped from bridge charged with reckless conduct

A Gurnee man who police say jumped from the Stearns School Road overpass onto I-94 June 25 was charged with reckless conduct Tuesday. Christian Olive, 19, was released from the hospital Tuesday morning.

Gurnee police received a 911 call at 3:25 p.m. June 25 from a man saying he was two hours away and on top of a building, and threatened to jump off the building unless he spoke to a person in Gurnee, police said.

A Gurnee police officer found the caller standing over I-94 and attempted to talk him away from the side of the overpass while Illinois State Police attempted to block traffic on the interstate.

Around 4:45 p.m., the man jumped over the south side of the overpass and onto the westbound lanes of the interstate; at about the same time one of the two Illinois State troopers stopping traffic in the westbound lanes was hit and injured, suffering a fractured leg and arm, police said.

The officer and Olive were treated at the scene by Gurnee fire officials and were both taken to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville with their injuries.

Olive is charged with one count of reckless conduct, a misdemeanor, and is being held at the Lake County jail on $2,000 bond, Gurnee police said. The injured State trooper's status was not available.