CHICAGO -- A reportedly depressed and intoxicated man, distraught over society's ills and social injustice, was persuaded from jumping off a bridge into the Chicago River early Thursday by two empathetic police officers in the Loop.

The incident happened at 12:10 a.m. at 242 N. State St., when police responded to a man threatening to commit suicide by jumping into the river from a bridge, according to a Central District police lieutenant.

"He said that he was distraught over society's ills and social injustice," according to the lieutenant, who said the man, from the Southwest Side, may have been depressed and intoxicated.

The 41-year-old man, who is employed by Southwest Airlines, had gotten himself "outside the bridge railing, hanging on" when two responding Central District police officers arrived.

"They were both empathetic and were able to dissuade him from jumping," according to the lieutenant, who said the officers assisted in getting him back to a safe area of the bridge.

The man, who does not have a criminal background, was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital for a mental evaluation.

Copyright 2008, Sun-Times News Group