Police Thwart Potential Suicide at Galleria Mall

White Plains police talked a 19-year-old local man out of jumping off the roof of the parking garage at the Galleria Mall early Saturday, according to authorities.

The incident occurred at about 4:10 a.m. when the man, whose identity was not disclosed, called 911 to report he was at the garage and that he “wanted to hurt himself” and he then hung up, said Robert T. Riley, president of the White Plains Police Benevolent Association, in a statement.

More than a dozen officers were involved in convincing the man not to jump from the ledge of the garage, and it took well over an hour.

“This was a spectacular job performed by all the officers involved,” said David Chong, commissioner of Public Safety for White Plains, in a statement. “They saved the life of a distraught man in the middle of cold night. This goes to show you how well our police officers are trained and how dedicated they are to duty.”

Below is Riley’s account of the incident, which he emailed to members of the force:

Dear Members,

I would like to bring to your attention the outstanding job of the following members.

Sergeants Petrosino, Nolletti, and Dominguez

ESU Officers Smalls, Fuentes, and Gordon

Police Officers Burnett, Jeff Ramirez, Faulkner, Markowski, Pagan, and Cathy Miedreich

Detective Kirby

PSA Ceravole

This morning at approximately 0410 hours, HQ received a call from a suicidal party who told the call taker that he was inside the Galleria parking structure and wanted to hurt himself. This party then hung up the phone. The call takers PO Pagan, Markowski and PSA Ceravole made several attempts to call back the subject and finally were successful and were able to confirm the subject was indeed somewhere inside the structure. They advised responding units and car 13 PO Burnett was able to locate the subject on 9 West, where he was standing on the outside of the railing on a 6-8inch ledge. PO Burnett quickly notified dispatch and Sgt. Petrosino responded to the scene. A short time later Sgt. Nolletti, PO Faulkner, ESU officers Smalls, Fuentes and Gordon arrived on scene. Patrol units were also positioned to control pedestrian onlookers, vehicular traffic, and media personnel.

Once on scene Sgt. Petrosino, Nolletti and PO Burnett were able to gain the confidence of our suicidal party and get close enough to converse with the subject. After a short period of time, PO Jeff Ramirez was called to the scene to converse with the subject in Spanish. While these officers talked to the subject, ESU officers Smalls and Fuentes set up the ropes in case they had to make an attempt to snatch the subject.

Once the ropes were secure ESU Officer Smalls approached the subject and began speaking to him. At this time Sgt. Petrosino stepped away from the individual and took command of the scene. He was in constant communication with the desk officer (Sgt. Dominguez) who was able to get the proper resources that were needed to get the job done.

After approximately an hour and a half, PO Miedreich and Detective Kirby arrived on scene and took over negotiations.

They began speaking with the individual and after about thirty to forty minutes they were able to get the individual to step on the inside of the railing and ESU Officer Smalls was able to tackle and gain control of the subject. The subject was then transported to WPER for treatment.

Again I would like to congratulate all members involved in this lifesaving event. You all showed tremendous police work as well as teamwork. As for the Sergeants, you faced this call with confidence and demonstrated your decisive leadership skills and ability. For the members involved, you demonstrated an exceptional mastery of your professional skills and the ability to work together as a team.

Congratulations on a job well done!

God Bless and Stay Safe

Robert T. Riley

President

White Plains Police Benevolent Association

“Our Strength Lies In Our Unity”