Sept. 28, 2015 By Michael Florio
Port Authority officers saved a schizophrenic man from jumping to his death at La Guardia Airport on Saturday.
The police were alerted to a 24-year-old man’s mental condition after his mother told officers that he was off his prescription drugs and was behaving irrationally, according to Port Authority spokesman Joe Pentangelo.
Officers attempted to speak to the disturbed man, when he ran and began climbing over the railing of the second floor walkway at the Central Terminal at about 12:30 pm.
Officers grabbed hold of the man who was attempting to swing his second leg over the railing.
The man attempted to fight off the officers, although they were able to pull him back over the railing, Pentangelo said.
“He repeatedly resisted and spat on the responded officers,” Pentangelo said.
The officers prevented the man from falling 30 feet to the main floor below.
The man was taken to Elmhurst Hospital for medical and mental evaluation, according to Pentangelo.
One police officer was taken to the same hospital for a swollen wrist.
The man and his mother had planned to go Florida.
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