By Alex Dobuzinskis
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A man who police suspect in the disappearance of his wife jumped off a cliff on Wednesday as officers approached him and survived the fall of more than 100 feet, authorities said.
David Viens was hospitalized in critical condition, after plunging at least 100 feet from Point Vicente, a bluff with a lighthouse in a suburb of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Sheriff's spokesman Lt. David Coleman said.
Coleman said he was unsure how Viens survived the fall, which left him with internal injuries.
"The cliff was so steep I didn't even want to get close to it," said Coleman, who visited the site after Viens jumped.
Viens' wife, Dawn, went missing in October 2009, and although her body has not been found, detectives believe she was killed. Dawn Viens was 39 when she disappeared.
Authorities this week named David Viens a person of interest in his wife's disappearance, after examining the home they shared and detecting traces of blood, Coleman said.
Investigators were keeping tabs on Viens as they built their case, and on Wednesday morning they learned he was seen near the cliffs, so they sent a patrol car to check on him.
When officers in the patrol car neared, Viens and his girlfriend drove off, Coleman said. The couple's car later came to a stop and Viens, after wrestling with his girlfriend, ran away and jumped off the cliff, the lieutenant said.
"If he pulls through, he'll be arrested for the murder of Dawn Viens," Coleman said.
(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis, editing by Dan Whitcomb)
