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Back-To-Back GWB Saves: Port Authority Stops Transgender Teen, Mid-Aged Man

FORT LEE, N.J. -- A transgender teen disowned by family in Bahrain was talked out of jumping from the George Washington Bridge early Wednesday -- minutes after Port Authority officers convinced another would-be jumper to get help, Daily Voice has learned.

PAPD GWB

PAPD GWB

Photo Credit: PHOTO: Jerry DeMarco / INSET: PAPD

Officers Juan Guzman and Amos Shand were in a police cruiser when they saw 56-year-old man on the south walkway near the New York tower at 7:18 a.m., the authority's Joseph Pentangelo said.

"His body language suggested that something was amiss," another law enforement source with direct knowledge of the incident told Daily Voice.

Guzman -- who's been honored by several organizations for dozens of "interventions" -- and Shand left their cruiser parked in the right lane of the upper level and hurried over to the man.

"They moved quickly and he was stunned," the officer said. "He'd been there in the past and decided this was the time to go."

Guzman talked with the man, who admitted his plan.

An ambulance took him to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital for evaluation, Pentangelo told Daily Voice.

At 7:42 a.m., Port Authority police received a report from their Fort Lee colleagues that a teenager with a gray-colored top and pants was headed to the bridge, Pentangelo said.

Officers Dwight Clark and Michael Gravina spotted the girl, who turned out to be a transgender teenager disowned by family in Bahrain, the law enforcement source told Daily Voice.

The 17-year-old, who'd been living in Union City, was taken to Bergen Regional Medical Center, Pentangelo said.

DYFS also was notified because of the circumstances.

Officer Guzman, a 20-year veteran, recently was named the "Officer of the Year" by the Crisis Intervention Team New Jersey (CIT-NJ) Center of Excellence.

Guzman has prevented more than two dozen suicides since being assigned to the GWB, Pentangelo said.

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