dr emulator (madmax)
12-21-2010, 09:25 AM
New York window ledge smoker sparked overblown suicide police response
A PAIR of blundering police officers mistook a lawyer's cigarette break on his window ledge for a suicide attempt.
Manhattan man Mark Moody sued the city and the police officers for $400,000 in damages earlier this month after he was wrestled to the floor of his apartment, handcuffed and taken by ambulance to a downtown psychiatric ward, The New York Post reported today, citing evidence in a lawsuit.
The 40-year-old trial lawyer said he was sat out enjoying his regular nicotine hit on the sill of his second-floor apartment window, a scant 3.5m off the ground, on a hot August day when a police car arrived and two police officers jumped out.
"Are you about to commit suicide?" one officer asked.
"If I was going to commit suicide, this would be a pretty dumb place to do it," the smoker replied, adding. "If I jumped from here, I'd just sprain my ankle."
But the officers, who never said what prompted their concern, insisted Mr Moody come downstairs.
The lawyer refused, explaining he was sitting on the sill so he wouldn't get smoke in the apartment, and hailed a cabby friend over to vouch that the window was his regular smoking spot. But three ambulances and four other patrol cars pulled up before the cabby could move.
Mr Moody said that before he knew it, a beefy officer was inside his apartment, lifting him out of his own living-room window from behind. The lawyer was then shifted into an ambulance and taken to the Beth Israel Medical Centre.
But Mr Moody said the on-duty psychiatrist apologised before quickly discharging him.
"I talked to him for three minutes, and he said, 'Look, I'm really sorry. I apologise on behalf of the city,'" Mr Moody recalled.
NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said, "Police responded to a 911 call of an emotionally disturbed person at the location. When police arrived, they observed the male sitting on the ledge talking erratically. Police Emergency Service officers were called, and the person was removed to the hospital for observation."
source (http://www.news.com.au/weird-true-freaky/new-york-window-ledge-smoker-sparked-overblown-suicide-police-response/story-e6frflri-1225973697576)
:rolleyes:
A PAIR of blundering police officers mistook a lawyer's cigarette break on his window ledge for a suicide attempt.
Manhattan man Mark Moody sued the city and the police officers for $400,000 in damages earlier this month after he was wrestled to the floor of his apartment, handcuffed and taken by ambulance to a downtown psychiatric ward, The New York Post reported today, citing evidence in a lawsuit.
The 40-year-old trial lawyer said he was sat out enjoying his regular nicotine hit on the sill of his second-floor apartment window, a scant 3.5m off the ground, on a hot August day when a police car arrived and two police officers jumped out.
"Are you about to commit suicide?" one officer asked.
"If I was going to commit suicide, this would be a pretty dumb place to do it," the smoker replied, adding. "If I jumped from here, I'd just sprain my ankle."
But the officers, who never said what prompted their concern, insisted Mr Moody come downstairs.
The lawyer refused, explaining he was sitting on the sill so he wouldn't get smoke in the apartment, and hailed a cabby friend over to vouch that the window was his regular smoking spot. But three ambulances and four other patrol cars pulled up before the cabby could move.
Mr Moody said that before he knew it, a beefy officer was inside his apartment, lifting him out of his own living-room window from behind. The lawyer was then shifted into an ambulance and taken to the Beth Israel Medical Centre.
But Mr Moody said the on-duty psychiatrist apologised before quickly discharging him.
"I talked to him for three minutes, and he said, 'Look, I'm really sorry. I apologise on behalf of the city,'" Mr Moody recalled.
NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said, "Police responded to a 911 call of an emotionally disturbed person at the location. When police arrived, they observed the male sitting on the ledge talking erratically. Police Emergency Service officers were called, and the person was removed to the hospital for observation."
source (http://www.news.com.au/weird-true-freaky/new-york-window-ledge-smoker-sparked-overblown-suicide-police-response/story-e6frflri-1225973697576)
:rolleyes: