Secaucus Police Save Suicidal Man From Rt. 3 Bridge

SECAUCUS, NJ — Secaucus police talked a man down from the Rt. 3 bridge Thursday morning, and the department's new therapy dog, Oakley, will visit the man later.

The incident began at 9 a.m. Thursday, said Police Chief Dennis Miller: Secaucus police received a 911 call that a man got out of a moving car and was contemplating suicide by jumping off the Rt. 3 East bridge that runs over the Hackensack River.

When Secaucus Police Officer Taylor Ensmann got there, he discovered a man sitting on the ledge of the bridge, with his legs dangling over the marsh area below.

"A jump or fall into the marsh below could have, with relative certainty, been catastrophic for the victim," said Miller.

Ensmann, who is also in charge of the Secaucus Police Department’s Therapy Dog Program, started talking to the man and calmed him down.

Ensmann and Police Anthony Sherman, who was now on scene, got close enough to the man to grab him around the torso and arms and remove him from the bridge’s ledge, thereby preventing the suicide attempt.

The man was taken to Hoboken University Medical Center for evaluation.

As Patch reported, Secaucus police started working with Oakley just this summer: He is not a trained police canine, but he is meant for situations like this, and to comfort children during domestic violence calls, at street fairs, among other things.

“I commend the actions of my officers, who demonstrated extreme compassion while preventing someone from needlessly taking their own life," said Miller.

Related: Secaucus Police Start Using Therapy Dog Oakley In Patrol Duties (July 31)

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