Cop Saves 2 Suicidal Jumpers In 2 Days On GWB

FORT LEE, N.J. — A police officer saved the lives of two men who were planning on committing suicide at the bridge in the past few days.

Officer Juan Guzman, who just completed a one-week crisis intervention training course, engaged a suicidal man, who was over the outer railing and hanging on, in conversation while police were working to clean up a fuel spill and tractor-trailer accident Friday, said Joe Pentangelo, a Port Authority spokesman.

Guzman and Lt. Mike Hennessy, who completed the same course as Guzman, established a rapport with the 23-year-old Manhattan resident and kept him from jumping, Pentangelo said.

The man was taken to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital for treatment and his next of kin was notified.

Guzman and two other officers found a 28-year-old on the bridge's south walk while on patrol Saturday afternoon, Pentangelo said.

The officers spoke to the New York City-man, who told them he had come to the bridge to jump, police said.

The officers took the man into custody and brought him to Bergen Regional Medical Center in Paramus for evaluation, Pentangelo said.

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Photo: A Port Authority police officer talks a man hanging onto the outer rail of the George Washington Bridge last week. Courtesy of The Port Authority Police Department