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Port Authority Officer Talks Suicidal Hawaiian Man Back Over GWB Railing

FORT LEE, N.J. -- The George Washington Bridge's first foiled suicide of 2017 played out more than 20 stories above the Hudson River on Monday.

GWB

GWB

Photo Credit: Jerry DeMarco

A 31-year-old Hawaii man had climbed over the upper-level railing and was poised to jump when Port Authority Police Officer Fred Corrubia found him, authorities said.

Corrubia, who has several saves -- or "interventions" -- to his credit, got the man talking, the authority's Joseph Pentangelo told Daily Voice.

Although he "indicated his intentions" and "was poised to jump," the distraught man listened to him, Pentangelo said Thursday.

Soon after, he agreed to climb back to safety.

He was taken to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital for evaluation and treatment, Pentangelo said.

There were 12 GWB suicides in 2016 -- compared with 18 each of the previous two years.

Port Authority police also registered 70 interventions -- some of them more dramatic, some less, than Monday's, authorities said.

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