POUGHKEEPSIE – A man known to City of Poughkeepsie police officers and firefighters once again held the public servants at bay overnight as he threatened to jump from the Walkway Over the Hudson. Emergency personnel arrived on the scene Friday night at approximately 11:00 pm and were there until the emotionally disturbed man finally climbed the fence and jumped, plummeting less than 30 feet to the ground below him, sustaining non-life-threatening injuries.
This is the first time the subject climbed over the rail and jumped, according to one first responder. The man was on the north side of the trail leading to the span, near the Washington Street staircase when he jumped, hitting the retaining wall on his way to landing near the sidewalk. He was triaged at the scene and transported to a local hospital for additional treatment.
In August 2023, the same man was on the same area of the trail, this time on the west side of Washington Street, and held emergency personnel at bay from 8:00 pm until 2:00 pm the next day, refusing to surrender. At that incident, City of Poughkeepsie police negotiators used numerous different techniques until the man finally surrendered, avoiding a 30-foot fall to the ground below.
In July, the same subject was on the same section of the Walkway threatening to commit suicide. After approximately one hour of negotiating, police and firefighters were able to subdue the man and lower the combatant to the ground using the fire department’s tower ladder truck. A brief struggle between the man and his rescuers resulted in him being restrained and transported to the hospital for evaluation.
In one of his earlier attempts, the man drew the attention of emergency personnel when he parked a car on the Mid-Hudson Bridge in June 2023 during rush hour and threatened to end his life by jumping into the Hudson River, nearly 200 feet below the bridge. Negotiators were able to convince the man to surrender and he was transported to a…
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