Cops Stop Potential Suicide At George Washington Bridge

Port Authority police managed to talk down a potential suicide victim who was caught climbing a rock wall on the New Jersey side of the George Washington Bridge on Thursday morning.

A passerby called police when they spotted the 40-year-old homeless man climbing a wall overlooking the south walkway around 6:30 a.m.

When police arrived on the scene less than a minute later, the man was in a “fairly precarious position” about 15 feet off the ground, said Joseph Pentangelo, a spokesman with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Officers engaged the man in a 10 to 15 minute conversation, managing to convince the man to climb back down without using physical force.

Police did most of the talking during the encounter, and the man’s responses were “somewhat confused,” Pentangelo said.

“They did a good job,” he told Patch.

No injuries were reported during the incident. Emergency responders transported the man to Bergen Regional Hospital for further evaluation.

There have been at least a dozen confirmed suicides at the George Washington Bridge this year. The Port Authority says there were 16 suicides in 2013 and 18 in 2014.

• See related article: 12 Have Now Jumped To Their Deaths From GWB In 2015