Police Rescue Man Poised To Jump From George Washington Bridge
FORT LEE, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A teen who was about to jump off the George Washington Bridge was rescued Monday by four officers from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
The 18-year-old man bit one of the officers in the process.
The incident began a little after noon Monday, when a 911 operator in Fort Lee, N.J., received a call of a man poised to jump from the north walkway of the bridge.
Port Authority Officers Albert Oquendo and Laverne Watson arrived and grabbed the young man, but he tried to free himself and bit Oquendo.
"I grabbed him from his right arm and when I did, he yelled 'No.' And he just let his body go limp and he just went down but I was able to keep hold of him and at that point, I brought my left arm around and that's when he bit me on the left hand," Oquendo told WCBS 880.
Oquendo said after the man was subdued, he apologized for biting the officer.
"He just stated he had several problems and I said 'well, you see people care. We wouldn't have gone to all that trouble if we didn't care,'" Oquendo told WCBS 880.
Officer Rafael Castillo arrived and was nearly pulled over the edge. A fourth officer, Juan Guzman, managed to handcuff the suspect's hand to the outside of the bridge and he was pulled back over the railing.
"I went over the barrier and tried to grab his arm. By then, two officers had a hold of me so I wouldn't go over. I was able to grab his pants leg and his leg and pulled him over the railing onto the walkway," Castillo told WCBS 880.
The unidentified man was taken to Columbia-New York Presbyterian Hospital for evaluation. Police said he is a resident of Crestview, Fla.
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