SHARE

Port Authority, Nypd officers grab suicidal man in dramatic GWB rescue

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A despondent man climbed over the walkway railing and was balanced on the narrow outer ledge of the George Washington Bridge tonight when a Port Authority police officer and an NYPD cop teamed up to grab and pull him to safety.

Photo Credit: Cliffview Pilot File Photo

Tossing a pint bottle of booze into the Hudson, the 29-year-old man told responding authority officers that he intended to jump around 7 p.m. tonight.

Officer James Cronin, a 15-year department veteran, “established a rapport and got him talking,” the authority’s Joseph Pentangelo told CLIFFVIEW PILOT tonight.

“As this conversation was going on, Emergency Services Unit officers readied themselves for a rescue,” he said.

The man then “began moving across the ledge, placing himself in grave danger,” Pentangelo said. “It became likely that he might accidentally fall rather than jump.”

RELATED: GWB a ‘suicide magnet’?

He then crouched down, telling the officers to back up.

At that point, PAPD Sgt. Kevin Cottrell — a 22-year authority vet — and an NYPD officer gave one another a signal. Both then sprung and grabbed the man.

The 6-foot, 180-pound would-be jumper resisted, but the officers lifted him over the railing to safety, falling onto the pavement.

An ambulance took him to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, Pentangelo said.

 

 

 

to follow Daily Voice East Dutchess and receive free news updates.

SCROLL TO NEXT ARTICLE