Metra Cops Stop Man From Jumping Off 127th Street Bridge
Body camera captures Metra officers pulling the man back from the rail. "Nothing is worth taking your life, okay," officer told the man.
https://patch.com/illinois/alsip-crestw ... eet-bridge
BLUE ISLAND, IL -- Two Metra police officers are credited with preventing a despondent man from leaping off a bridge into a rail yard in Blue Island. The dramatic incident was captured on one of the officers' body camera.
During the late afternoon of Sept. 15, the street and bridge were closed because Metra was rebuilding the road's crossing with the Metra Electric Blue Island branch tracks at 127th Street and Lincoln, just east of the bridge. As construction was wrapping up for the day at 5:30 p.m., workers saw an eastbound white Honda Accord go around two "roads closed" signs on 127th Street and drive into the construction zone.
Workers waved at the driver to try to get him to stop, but he continued until his car got struck at the impassable crossing. They waved at the driver to try to get him to stop, but he continued until his car got stuck in the impassable crossing. The workers then saw the driver get out of the car and walk back the way he had driven, onto the 127th Street bridge.
The man was standing near the bridge when two Metra officers, Sgt. Will Wright and Officer Andrea Clunie, confronted him, Metra officials said. As the officers were ordering him to place his hands behind his back, so they could arrest him for trespassing, Metra officials said the man climbed over the bridge and tried to jump off. Both officers grabbed him and pulled him back.
Note: Metra cops are the police department for the northeast Illinois Metra commuter train service (all Class 1 railroads have their own police departments mainly to protect their property but because Metra is passenger only, they are more involved in overall security on trains and off).
A few years back, there was a lady threatening to jump off a 12 story parking garage in the Chicago area. The police patiently sat and waited at a distance to not scare her while they got ahold of if to think her husband who was able to talk her down. As I could see the seen from my office floor I was rather worried that I would turn around and suddenly see her go but they correctly assessed the situation and made sure she did not feel threatened enough to go. In this case, they did not have that option but were close and quick enough to grab him.
In this day in age when we see all the bad folks in the police, it is heartwarming to see the acts of caring that still come from our law enforcement officers.