Nassau police rescue man from suicide attempt on mall balcony

<p>Police rescued a suicidal man at a busy shopping mall on Monday, and the dramatic encounter was caught on video.</p>

News 12 Staff

Dec 4, 2017, 11:19 PM

Updated 2,499 days ago

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EDITOR'S NOTE: The video that accompanies this story may be disturbing to some viewers.
Police rescued a suicidal man at a busy shopping mall on Monday, and the dramatic encounter was caught on video.
Officers received the call around 10:30 a.m. Authorities say the man was teetering on the edge of a balcony at the Gallery at Westbury shopping center on Old Country Road.
Officers Edward Hoctor and Michael O'Brien blocked traffic and kept pedestrians from the area, while officers Michael Vergano and Steven Liguori attempted to talk the man off of the second-level ledge.
"We approached the individual and attempted to calm him down and put him at ease, and assure him that we were there to help him," Officer Liguori says.
Just as the man let go of the ledge, the officers grabbed him and pulled him to safety. If police weren't there, the man could have fallen 30 feet to his death.
The man was hospitalized for treatment. Officers declined to comment on why the man was in distress.
Nassau police say they have responded to 51 suicide attempts this year.