Officer Stops Man About to Hang Himself From Sakonnet River Bridge

A Portsmouth patrol officer stopped a man from hanging himself from the Sakonnet River Bridge on Monday afternoon.

Portsmouth Police Det. Lt. Alberto Bucci said that the man, identified as a 57-year-old Tiverton resident, put a noose around his neck and tied the other end of the rope to the railing of the Sakonnet River Bridge bike path.

Police got multiple calls reporting the man at around 1:26 p.m. and within minutes, the patrol officer and members of the Portsmouth Fire Department were at the scene.

The officer saw the man leaning over the side of the bridge and “initiated a conversation with the male party and moments later subdued him,” Bucci said.

The fire department transported him to Newport Hospital for evaluation.