Would-Be Jumper to Get Psychiatric Evaluation

A man threatening to jump from a fourth-floor window was taken into custody for psychiatric evaluation after what Peekskill police described as “quick thinking and heroic action” by three officers and a firefighter thwarted a potentially fatal plunge.

The officers and firefighter, at the risk of their own lives, struggled to support and hold onto the 25-year-old man until they succeeded in pulling him back through the window Saturday morning at Crossroads Apartments, police Lt. Eric Johansen said. He gave this account:

Police responded at 9:45 a.m. to a report from a woman that her son, with whom she had had problems, had locked himself in a bedroom at 1109 Brown St. and was threatening to jump. The two officers forced their way into the bedroom and grabbed the man by his legs as he climbed through a window. As they struggled to maintain their grip on his ankles, a city firefighter and a third officer climbed a Fire Department ladder to help support the weight of the man until he could be pulled back inside.

Johansen praised the “heroic” efforts of Police Officers Chris Vazeos, Andy Polay and Brian Sheldon and firefighter Cameron Rice. “They heroically saved him. But for their quick action, this could have had a more tragic ending,” he said. Johansen added that the weight of the man could have pulled the officers out the window during the struggle.

The man, whose name was not released, was taken into custody under provisions of mental health law. No charges were filed.

“We hope he gets the help he needs,” Johansen said.