This is startling


Perth Amboy cops rescue man from water after jump from Victory Bridge



JOSHUA BURD • STAFF WRITER • January 12, 2011
  • A man who jumped from the Victory Bridge during Wednesday's snowstorm is expected to recover after city police officers pulled him from the icy Raritan River, officials said.







The jumper, a 32-year-old Old Bridge man, was hospitalized Wednesday but survived the apparent suicide attempt, despite leaping from the 110-foot-high span, police said.

The rescue began about 2:15 a.m. with the help of an off-duty Middlesex County sheriff's officer. The officer was on his way from work at that time when he noticed an unoccupied car stopped in the middle of the bridge with its engine running.

Police responded and found footprints leading to the edge of the span, Lt. David O'Donnell said. When they aimed their flashlights over the water, they heard a man calling for help.

The officers summoned emergency medical and fire personnel to help retrieve the man, O'Donnell said. But as they waited, the man drifted toward the dock of the Cornucopia Cruise Line, where police met him and pulled him from the water.

The man, whose name was not released, was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, the lieutenant said. His injuries were not considered life-threatening.




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