Police spent an agonizing five hours coaxing a suicidal man away from the edge of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge on Wednesday.
The dramatic standoff began just before 9 a.m. when a 30-year-old man stepped out of a gray Chevy Equinox and climbed over the side of the bridge. He was seen wearing a backpack filled with rocks, ensuring that he would sink if he had leapt to the waters below.
While the man’s motive for the suicide attempt was not certain, the Staten Island Advance reported that it may have been caused by money troubles. However, police believed the man was emotionally disturbed.
Sgt. John Jacoby, who rescued the almost jumper, thought he may have given up after running out of steam. “He wasn’t too specific and he kept changing topics and going around and around,” said Jacoby, speaking to the New York Post. “I think he might have started to get tired.”
The attempted suicide came just a day after an attempt by a man at the Oculus transportation hub and days after a couple jumped several stories to their deaths in Manhattan allegedly over money troubles. The man on the Verrazano-Narrows was assured by police that he would not be arrested, but that he would be making a trip to the hospital instead, the Post reported.
