Cops stopped a distraught New Jersey woman from taking her life on the George Washington Bridge on Sunday, law enforcement sources said.
Members of the Port Authority Walkway Patrol found the misty-eyed woman, 38, oddly dressed for the chilly weather along the bridge’s pedestrian walkway around 5:30 p.m., sources said.
She was wearing a yoga top, pants and a light coat despite the incoming rain, the sources added.
After talking to her, the cops learned she was upset over issues in her life and had come to the bridge to “take a walk.”
She began asking bizarre questions, such as “How deep is the water?” and “Where do most people jump from,” the sources said.
Soon, members of the department’s Emergency Services Unit joined the woman and patrol on the bridge. Despite this, she dropped her cell phone, purse and grabbed the railing in an attempt to plunge into the frigid waters below. The suicide prevention squad used words to talk her out of jumping. No physical force was used, sources said.
She was taken to Bergen Regional Hospital for an evaluation.
Her father told police that he had been trying to reach her for several hours with no luck and that she was very stressed over the last few weeks, sources added.
The courageous squad has logged more than 230 suicide preventions on the bridge since it started its round-the-clock foot patrols in 2014. Cops would often grab the would-be jumper during the leap.
The Port Authority briefly issued a directive in February that would have prohibited the suicide patrol from grabbing potential jumpers until the ESU crew can assist.