Source: Norbert Nagel via Wikimedia Commons
Just two days after the start of the new year, a man reportedly drove his car onto the Verrazano Bridge, got out and jumped. His body has not yet been recovered, though police have a lead on his possible identity.
The car that was recovered belongs to a Canarsie woman. Her information has not been released. They believe the jumper to be her 24-year-old son.
The mother, however, is in complete denial, according to a source that spoke with the Home Reporter News:
He is my daughter’s boyfriend. She is distraught and does not want to eat or sleep, said the woman, who also lives in Canarsie and wishes to remain anonymous. She added that the man reportedly drove his mother’s car, which is still in police custody.
His mother reported him as a missing person. She is in denial. It’s just so hard to deal with, she explained, adding that he was at her home on New Year’s Eve.
We received an email from an anonymous woman who implored us for answers as to the identity of the man who committed suicide. She said that the family and friends of the presumed jumper have no answers and they feel sad and frustrated.
“Well it’s now almost a week and we still have No news. Did he really jump, where is the body?? So many questions with no answer,” she wrote.
No other updates are available at this time.
Source: Norbert Nagel via Wikimedia Commons
Witnesses driving across the Verrazano Bridge said they saw a man jump from the right lane of the Staten Island-bound upper level before 4 p.m. yesterday. The search for the man took several hours and it was unclear if there had actually been a jumper. However, MTA officials did confirm later in the day that there was indeed a jumper, according to SI Live.
The male driver’s identity has not been revealed at this time.
Prior to the first incident to happen this year, there have been five suicides on the bridge since December of 2011, including thwarted several attempts.
The MTA has attempted to stop the increase of suicides on the bridge by putting up suicide prevention signs which read “Life is Worth Living,” along with contact numbers for suicide prevention agencies.
Emergency response officials searched the waters for several hours but no body has been found yet.
Source: Michael LoCascio via Wikimedia Commons
Police found a dead body floating in the water near Exit 3 off the Belt Parkway, five days after a man jumped from the Verrazano Bridge.
He was found unresponsive. When the emergency services team arrived, he was declared dead. The man has not yet been identified, however, police believe he may be the man that jumped Friday morning.
Police believe that the man abandoned his car on the Staten Island-bound side of the Verrazano’s lower level at about 11:40 a.m.
No motive has been released.
The suicide is just one in a string of several suicides in the past few months, according to SILive.com.
Photo by Bob De Thomas
A 51-year-old man was found dead yesterday in the Belt Parkway rest area near 4th Avenue, adjacent to the Verrazano Bridge, in what appears to be a suicide.
Police responded to a call of an unconscious male shortly after 3:00 p.m., turning up to find the man in a black Ford Windstar.
EMS declared the man dead on arrival, having suffered a gunshot wound to the head from a .25-caliber semi-automatic firearm, which they found on the floor of the vehicle. Authorities draped a white sheet over the car’s windshield, and used NYPD vehicles to block the view from the hundreds of joggers, cyclists and others enjoying the Shore Parkway Greenway.
Police were on scene as late as 9:30 p.m. The Medical Examiner was also on scene, and one reader tells Bensonhurst Bean that there appeared to be an NYPD Harbor Unit searching the waters around the Brooklyn tower of the Verrazano Bridge.
The Medical Examiner has not formally ruled the death to be a suicide, and an NYPD spokesperson said the investigation is ongoing.
Thanks to Bob De Thomas for the tip.
Source: @NYC911/Twitter
Police barricaded off the area around 8301 Bay Pkwyand 83rd Street at about noon yesterday because of a possible suicide attempt. Police called the emergency services unit to the scene.
We will update this story as more information becomes available. If anyone has more information or additional photos, please send them to LVladimirova (at) bensonhurstbean (dot) com.
Source: Michael LoCascio via Wikimedia Commons
A man’s life was saved by law enforcement officials Tuesday afternoon after attempting to jump off of the Verrazano Bridge.
It all started when a good Samaritan noticed an empty car running idle in the right lane on the west-bound lower level. He reported it to a toll booth clerk who immediately signaled for help.
Officers Jared Reeves and Joseph Dalh, Lieutenant Cheryl DeSetto, Sergeant Michael Chiarelli and bridge worker Guiseppe Bottamico rushed to the scene and saw a man hanging by one arm, dangling nearly 230 feet above the Narrows, according to the New York Daily News.
The team lifted the man back onto the bridge. He was then taken to Staten Island University Hospital-North for care.
Verrazano Bridge Suicide Stopped by Hero Officer Grimm
During a routine nightly highway patrol, Bridges and Tunnels Officer Edward Grimm noticed a man driving erratically on the lower level of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.
The car was moving slowly, almost stopping traffic headed into Brooklyn.
“I thought he might be having car trouble because he was driving so slowly so I pulled up behind him and put my emergency lights on,” Grimm said, according to a report on mta.com.
When the driver noticed Grimm, he jumped out of the car and tried to climb over the railing. Grimm, who had already radioed for help from a nearby NYPD Emergency Services truck, knew he had to act fast.
He instructed the other officers to help him subdue the man and then handcuff him, preventing a potential suicide.
“We applaud Officer Grimm’s life-saving efforts,” said Bridges and Tunnels Vice President and Chief of Operations James Fortunato. “Our patrol officers are trained to be especially vigilant and we are pleased this incident ended positively.”
The man was taken to a nearby hospital and admitted for psychiatric evaluation.
“People are calling me a hero but I don’t think of it that way,” said Grimm. “I think I was just doing my job, and I’m glad I was there.”
- Firefighters examine the scene
As first reported by Sheepshead Bites, firefighters discovered the body of an apparent suicide victim while putting out a fire at 2281 Ocean Parkway in Gravesend.
An FDNY EMT on the scene said that the man may have lit the fire prior to shooting himself. NYPD has not yet confirmed the cause of death.
The man who was in his mid-40s lived above ABC Plus Day Care and a gastroenterologist’s office. No other civilians were harmed as both businesses were closed for the weekend.
Billy Kramer (Source: Facebook)
The grisly death of a 33-year-old man who plummeted off a Coney Island apartment building yesterday morning is an “apparent suicide,” the New York Police Department told Bensonhurst Bean this morning.
Continue Reading »
Source: Alen M./Facebook
A man fell to his death from the roof of a Coney Island apartment building, shortly before noon today.
The above photo began circulating on Facebook about an hour ago. The man landed in the courtyard of Trump Village Building 5 at West 5th and Neptune Avenue.
A Facebook commenter who claims to have been the first on the scene said the victim lived in Building 4 and was 33 years old.
Commenters believe the incident was a suicide, but Sheepshead Bites is awaiting confirmation from the police department.
Reader Elina N., who lives across the street from the incident, texted Bensonhurst Bean at 11:30 a.m. this morning, writing, “I heard a loud thump outside my window and realized someone just might have jumped out the window and died across the street from me.”
Facebook user Steven B. writes: “crazy thing is we get about 1 jumper a year on average..”
This is a breaking news story and may contain inaccuracies. The article will be updated as more information becomes available.
