A man who appeared to be laying under a blanket on a bridge above the 405 Freeway near Florence Avenue in Inglewood Thursday night drew an extended police response that backed up  traffic for miles for more than three hours.

The California Highway Patrol received a call at approximately 6:23 p.m. regarding a man wearing a white shirt and dark pants climbing a metal fence by a bridge near the Manchester Boulevard on-ramp, said CHP Officer Patrick Kimball.

Los Angeles County firefighters were also called to assist in trying to coax the man down, Kimball said. 

“The initial call was the man was a jumper,” Kimball said. 

CHP closed all but one lane of the southbound portion of the freeway near the overpass around 6:40 p.m. and all but one lane of the northbound portion an hour later, causing a traffic snarl during rush hour. 

Traffic was diverted to Manchester and La Cienega boulevards.