State police, NL fire save jumper

New London - A 22-year-old man's life was saved early Saturday morning after state police and New London firefighters prevented him from jumping into the Thames River from the crest of the northbound span of the Gold Star Memorial Bridge.

At 7:04 a.m. Saturday, state police from Troop E in Montville responded to an emergency call for a suicidal person standing at the crest of the south span of the Gold Star Memorial Bridge, according to a news release. When police arrived, they found a 22-year-old man who had scaled the safety fence and was standing on the outside ledge of the bridge.

At 7:13, the New London Fire Department was called for assistance, along with officers from the New London and Groton City police departments and the U.S. Coast Guard. The crews took up various stations on and near the bridge.

State police negotiators attempted to talk the man down for about an hour, at which point they called for an ambulance and fire personnel to position themselves at the boat launch at Riverside Park in New London.

New London Fire Department Battalion Chief Henry E. Kydd Jr. took a crew and went up on the bridge to see what else could be done.

Negotiations continued for about 30 minutes more, then police saw an opportunity to grab and handcuff the man. The attempt failed and a struggle ensued, according to police and fire personnel.

While several troopers and firefighters, including Lt. Joseph Stanley, continued to wrestle to keep hold of the man through the fencing, Kydd tried to secure the man's other wrist with handcuffs. Again, the man was able to wrest free, and also unlatched his belt after troopers were able to grab hold of it.

While the man struggled, state police were able to wrap a rope around his legs several times to secure him to the bridge fence. The man repeated that he was "ready to go" and leaned back with arms outstretched, with only the rope wrapped around his legs keeping him on the ledge, according to Kydd and state police.

Meanwhile, as the lone lane of traffic allowed to traverse the northbound span of the bridge slowed to watch the unfolding situation, New London fire personnel failed in an attempt to put a ladder against the fence and pull the man over.

"When we got the ladder up and that didn't work and Kiam went over ...," Kydd said Saturday evening.

Then, New London Firefighter Kiam Rosado made a split-second decision. He took out his personal safety rope normally used in emergency situations such as repelling down burning buildings, secured his harness and scaled the fence to join the man on the ledge.

"My heart skipped a couple of beats. I jumped in and we put an extra line on him and knew he was fine and we started cutting the fence," Kydd said.

Firefighter Todd Johnson helped secure an additional line around Rosado and then, with Kydd, started to use bolt-cutters to remove a section of the fence to the right of the distraught man to pull the men to safety.

As state police distracted the man by starting to cut a hole in the fencing to the men's left, Rosado wrapped another section of harness webbing around the man's hand and police and firefighters pulled him through the removed portion of the fence while troopers released the rope that had been around his legs.

The man was immediately taken by Groton ambulance to Lawrence & Memorial Hospital for evaluation. He remained at the hospital late Saturday, according to fire personnel. No information on his condition was available late Saturday night.

"I've seen a lot of things in my 31-year career, and most of the times when we're called for jumpers we're actually recovering a body. This is the first time I've actually watched the state police try to negotiate with somebody, and it's the first time I've actually seen someone come over after the negotiations," Kydd said.

"By rights, I'm surprised at the outcome and I'm very happy with it. I just hope this guy straightens his life out. Someone was smiling down. Maybe it wasn't his time. He's got something else to do," Kydd said.