Negotiators successfully prevented a suicidal man from jumping off a highway overpass in Pittsburg on Monday morning, Pittsburg police Lt. Ron Raman said.

At about 7 a.m., police received a report of a man leaning over the Loveridge Road overcrossing.

A supervisor and three officers who happened to be members of the Pittsburg Police Department's crisis negotiation team responded.

They found the man, a 30-year-old Stockton resident, on the overpass. He appeared to be paranoid and delusional, and made several attempts to jump off the overpass, Raman said.

At one point, the man even stood on the railing and balanced with just his feet, Raman said.

The officers continued to talk to him and, at about 9:30 a.m. when he was momentarily distracted by lighting a cigarette, they were able to grab him and take him into custody, according to Raman.

He was arrested for a parole violation and taken to a hospital, Raman said.

The California Highway Patrol closed state Highway 4 in both directions for about two and a half hours while the incident was going on, CHP Officer Peter Van Eckhardt said.

The highway was reopened shortly after 9:30, but it took a while for traffic to recover.