Fair 79°
Police & Fire
Somerset Athlete Leaps To Death From New NY Landmark Somerset Athlete Leaps To Death From New NY Landmark
Somerset Athlete Leaps To Death From New NY Landmark A former high school rugby star from Basking Ridge leaped to his death from a landmark structure at the brand-new Hudson Yards in Manhattan over the weekend, authorities confirmed. Peter DeSalvo, 19, a freshman at Sacred Heart University in Connecticut, jumped to his death from the sixth story of The Vessel, 150 or so feet above West 33rd Street near the Hudson River, around 5:30 p.m. Saturday, according to published reports. He didn’t leave a note, loved ones said. DeSalvo, who was a member of SHU's rugby club, was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, after jumping fr…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
HERO: Firefighter Rescues Suicidal Woman From Route 17 Overpass Leap HERO: Firefighter Rescues Suicidal Woman From Route 17 Overpass Leap
Hero: Firefighter Rescues Suicidal Woman From Route 17 Overpass Leap “Why don’t you kill yourself?” her boyfriend told a distraught Lodi woman. Hours later, the 24-year-old woman had climbed atop a bridge barrier above Route 17 in nearby Hasbrouck Heights and considered whether to jump. Then Joey Fehl showed up. Fehl, a Palisades Park firefighter who lives in town, faced his own ordeals. He came out the other side neither bitter nor discouraged. So he knew where she was coming from.And she could sense it. Fehl was driving down Route 46 with pal Thomas Mayer when he spotted her out of the corner of his eye shortly after 3:30 Wednesday afternoon. “Why is t…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
HEROES: Suicidal Woman, 19, Rescued After Jumping From Palisades In Cliffside Park HEROES: Suicidal Woman, 19, Rescued After Jumping From Palisades In Cliffside Park
Heroes: Suicidal Woman, 19, Rescued After Jumping From Palisades In Cliffside Park Cliffside Park firefighters rescued a distraught 19-year-old woman who plunged nearly 30 feet after jumping from the top of the Palisades in a suicide try Wednesday afternoon, authorities said. The woman was taken to Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, responders said. She sustained a head and ankle injury and had various cuts and bruises from the fall, Police Capt. Vincent Capano said. The woman jumped from the area at the bottom of Bender Place off Gorge Road and Laird Avenue -- across from the Riello high-rise on Gorge Road below -- around 4 p.m., the captain said. The Cliffside Par…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
HEROES: Palisades Parkway Police Rescue Suicidal Man Who Tried Driving Car Off Cliffs HEROES: Palisades Parkway Police Rescue Suicidal Man Who Tried Driving Car Off Cliffs
Heroes: Palisades Parkway Police Rescue Suicidal Man Who Tried Driving Car Off Cliffs Palisades Interstate Parkway police took a distressed Bronx man into custody after he tried to drive his car off the cliffs 400 feet above the Hudson River and then said he wanted to commit suicide by cop, authorities said. Englewood Cliffs police transferred a 911 call from a witness who said the 29-year-old emotionally disturbed man “appeared to be attempting to drive [his] vehicle over the cliff’s edge” at the Rockefeller Lookout high atop the Palisades, Lt. Jock H. Watkins Jr. said. Contacted by PIP police on his cellphone, the driver “confirmed that he was in emotional distress” and “s…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Schools
Police: Franklin Teen Encouraged Elementary School Girl To Kill Herself Police: Franklin Teen Encouraged Elementary School Girl To Kill Herself
Police: Franklin Teen Encouraged Elementary School Girl To Kill Herself A male high school student from Franklin was arrested after encouraging a female elementary schooler to kill herself in response to her suicide awareness post on social media, said authorities who charged him. Franklin police did not release the name of the teenage male, who -- accompanied by his parents -- was arrested around 6 p.m. Monday, Police Chief Gregory M. Cugliari said. The arrest stemmed from a complaint of cyber harassment that came to patrol officers on Oct. 18, Cugliari said. The young girl reported that the teenager made "harassing and disparaging remarks encouraging su…

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by Cecilia Levine
Police & Fire
Air Force Honors New Milford Airman For Anti-Suicide Work Among Vets, Responders Air Force Honors New Milford Airman For Anti-Suicide Work Among Vets, Responders
Air Force Honors New Milford Airman For Anti-Suicide Work Among Vets, Responders U.S. Air Force Technical Sgt. James P. Connors of New Milford has dedicated himself to combating suicide among the military and first responders -- from police to firefighters. For that reason, the force recently awarded the retired Teaneck firefighter its Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal. Connors distinguished himself through “leadership, ceaseless efforts and dedication” to the Save a Warrior program, which aims to reduce suicide among returning veterans, active service members and first responders with post-traumatic stress, the Air Force said in awarding him an Outstanding Volunteer …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Secaucus Police Save Woman Who Tried To Jump Off Rt. 3 Bridge Secaucus Police Save Woman Who Tried To Jump Off Rt. 3 Bridge
Secaucus Police Save Woman Who Tried To Jump Off Rt. 3 Bridge Two Secaucus police officers saved a woman as she was climbing over the railing of a bridge spanning Rt. 3 in a suicide attempt, Capt. Dennis Miller said in a statement.  A passerby called police around 3 a.m. Wednesday morning after spotting the woman peering over the edge of the Rt. 3 East bridge. Officer George Sikaffy arrived at the scene just as the woman had placed her leg over the railing, Miller said.  Sikaffy grabbed the woman's jacket and pulled her to safety.  The woman tried to break free of Sikaffy's grasp as she yelled about taking her own life, Miller also sai…

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by Paul Milo
Police & Fire
Port Authority PD Veteran Honored For Rescuing Suicidal Subjects From GWB Port Authority PD Veteran Honored For Rescuing Suicidal Subjects From GWB
Port Authority PD Veteran Honored For Rescuing Suicidal Subjects From GWB A Port Authority police sergeant with a history of preventing suicides at the George Washington Bridge received a prestigious award on Thursday. Sgt. Michael Barry, a 33-year department veteran who’s been assigned to the bridge command staff the past five, was named Officer of the Year by the New Jersey Crisis Intervention Team. Barry, who became only the second PAPD officer ever to be given the CIT-NJ award, directly kept would-be suicides from jumping from the GWB but also has trained colleagues to do the same, the authority's Lenis Rodrigues said. Just three months ago, he and a supervi…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Newark Boy, 13, Packs BB Gun In ‘Suicide By Cop’ Attempt Newark Boy, 13, Packs BB Gun In ‘Suicide By Cop’ Attempt
Newark Boy, 13, Packs BB Gun In ‘Suicide By Cop’ Attempt A 13-year-old Newark boy who planned a “suicide-by-cop” attempt was taken into custody without incident, authorities said. Family members summoned police Friday night, telling them of the boy’s intentions. He had the gun tucked into his waistband and planned to pull it out, they said. Officers and family members eventually convinced him to hand over the fake gun, after which he was taken to University Hospital to be evaluated. Despite reports by some other news media, the boy never pointed the gun at police, authorities said. “Suicide by cop is an attempt to provoke a deadly response from…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Police: Man In Dumont SWAT Incident Arrested At Parents' Home In Mahwah Police: Man In Dumont SWAT Incident Arrested At Parents' Home In Mahwah
Police: Man In Dumont SWAT Incident Arrested At Parents' Home In Mahwah UPDATE: A suicidal man who threatened to shoot police brought a Bergen County Regional SWAT team and negotiators to his Dumont home Thursday afternoon -- but he wasn't there, authorities said. He was at his parents' home in Mahwah. The 31-year-old borough resident called the New Jersey Hopeline at Rutgers University saying that "he was going to commit suicide and if police came he was going to shoot them," a law enforcement official told Daily Voice. Responders went to the Dumont address on Revere Drive while closing off local streets. An ambulance was put on standby. After disco…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
HERO IN BLUE: Elmwood Park Police Officer Stops Boy, 15, From Suicide Jump HERO IN BLUE: Elmwood Park Police Officer Stops Boy, 15, From Suicide Jump
Hero IN Blue: Elmwood Park Police Officer Stops Boy, 15, From Suicide Jump ELMWOOD PARK, N.J. -- An Elmwood Park police officer grabbed a 15-year-old boy intent on killing himself as he scaled a fence on a bridge above busy Route 20. Respoding to several calls from witnesses who saw the boy climb the fence on the Broadway bridge's east side Wednesday afternoon, Officer Keith Hartmann snatched the boy and pulled him down from the fence, Police Chief Michael Foligno said. The boy "was determined to kill himself and asked Hartmann to shoot him with his service weapon," Foligno said. The officer held him down until backups arrived. Paterson police responde…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Obituaries
Pascack Valley High Grads Mourn Classmate Shanon Pasternak, 20 Pascack Valley High Grads Mourn Classmate Shanon Pasternak, 20
Pascack Valley High Grads Mourn Classmate Shanon Pasternak, 20 HILLSDALE, N.J. -- Pascack Valley High School graduate Shanon Pasternak died on Jan. 21. He was 20 years old and had been living in Clifton. His former classmates from PVHS have raised more than $3,600 on Shanon's memory, to be donated to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. He was born on Nov. 26, 1997 in the New York Catskills, where he lived until he was six years old.  He spent his school years in Hillsdale, where he graduated from Pascack Valley High School. Shanon was then accepted by S.U.N.Y. New Paltz, where he was attending college.  Shanon was a great lover of the out…

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by Cecilia Levine