CORTLANDT – Two hours of talking with a 21-year-old man who threatened
to jump off the Bear Mountain Bridge ended peacefully when he came down
off the structure early Monday morning.
State Police at Cortlandt were called to the bridge at about 10:40 p.m.
and found the man, who they did not publicly identify, walking up the
suspension cable on the bridge.
Dialogue with the man determined he was depressed and having thoughts
of suicide.
Several times during the two-hour conversation, the man began hanging
off the bridge’s suspension cable, but each time, troopers were
able to safely talk him back onto the cables.
A rapport was eventually established and the man agreed to come down from
the cables. He was taken to Phelps Memorial Hospital for a mental evaluation.
His family was notified and responded to the hospital.
State Police were assisted by State Park Police and New York State Bridge
Authority personnel.
This was the second instance in a week of local police persuading a man
to not jump from a bridge. The other happened on the bridge over the Delaware
River at Port Jervis. A Port Jervis police officer was able to avert a
tragedy in that incident.
