VANCOUVER, Wash. - Authorities say a transient climbing over a chain link fence in Vancouver choked to death when he got tangled in the straps of his beer-filled backpack.

Police say 51-year-old James Francis Henry had been drinking beer Tuesday night while walking with his girlfriend, 38-year-old Kelli Jo Barkley. They were returning to their homeless encampment from their roadside panhandling site.

Barkley says he fell while trying to scale a 6-foot chain link fence, got his neck caught in the chest strap of his backpack and said, "Help me! Help me!"

By the time she got a nearby resident to call 911 and emergency crews arrived, Henry was unconscious and could not be revived.

Police said his backpack contained about a dozen 40-ounce bottles of beer.