Officers Talk Distraught Woman Off Edge Of Cliff At Sleeping Giant State Park: Hamden Police

HAMDEN, CT — Hamden Police officers are being credited with successfully convincing a distraught woman to step away from the edge of a cliff at Sleeping Giant State Park on Tuesday afternoon. At about 3:45 p.m. on Sept. 19, Hamden Police were contacted by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection regarding a welfare check.

DEEP personnel advised Hamden Police that they had received a call from a “concerned citizen” who reported observing a woman sitting on the edge of a cliff at Sleeping Giant State Park.

“Lieutenant Timothy Wydra, Sergeant David Ng, along with Officers Paul Calamita and Timothy McKeon subsequently climbed a treacherous portion of the mountain in an attempt to rescue the 35-year-old woman,” Capt. Ronald Smith said in a press release. “Both Officer Calamita and Officer McKeon engaged in a 90-minute dialogue with the distraught woman. They were successful in building rapport with her, convincing her to step away from the edge of the cliff. Furthermore, all of the officers provided assistance to the woman in the descent off of the mountain.”

The woman was transported to Yale-New Haven Hospital for medical treatment, according to Smith.

Pictured: Officers Paul Calamita and Timothy Mckeon on the mountain during the incident / Hamden Police Department