36°
Officers who responded to the Genesee Avenue home near Lafayette Place shortly after 7:30 a.m. June 23 already were familiar with the suicidal 33-year-old resident, Deputy Chief Matthew de la Rosa said.
The knife-wielding resident was breaking windows and tossing objects from the third-floor roof while threatening to kill himself when they arrived, the deputy chief said.
Police got him to release the knife, de la Rosa said, although he continued to throw glass, bricks, and a rooftop TV antenna at the officers while urging them to shoot him.
“He also used a long stick to break out windows of the residence,” de la Rosa said.
A negotiator brought to the scene convinced the man to go back inside, where he was immobilized with a blast from a Taser and seized around 8:30 a.m., the deputy chief said.
The man was taken to Englewood Hospital and Medical Center with minor injuries sustained from broken glass and “his actions prior to being taken into custody,” de la Rosa said, without elaborating.
Criminal charges weren’t expected, he added.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Saddle Brook-Elmwood Park and receive free news updates.
