Emergency crews converge on Monroe Street Bridge after man spotted swimming in river

A man drew heavy emergency crew presence to the Monroe Street Bridge Thursday morning after he was spotted swimming in the fast-moving Spokane River.

Emergency crews at American Medical Response and the Spokane Fire Department were called at about 8:20 a.m. to the area just west of the Monroe Street Bridge, where they found a man in his shorts, with no shirt, perched on top of a large boulder overlooking the water.

He apparently told rescue workers that he saw a woman and a baby in the water, but the investigation into the river didn’t turn up any results, said Spokane Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer. He said it was likely that the man was suffering form a mental illness.

“His story was not credible,” Schaeffer said.

The man was not injured. He was assisted up the river bank and put into care, Schaeffer said.