The Falls Township Police assisted the New Jersey Transit Police Monday with a man on top of a New Jersey Transit Train in crisis seeking to die by suicide.
The incident occurred on Monday, January 13, at approximately 10:30 a.m. with both police departments responding to the the area of 15 M-Y Lane, Morrisville, for a report of a man atop a train in the midst of behavioral crisis
The preliminary investigation determined that prior to receiving a request to assist, the 32-year-old male resident of Willingboro, New Jersey, jumped from an elevated rail track at the Light Rail Yard in Trenton, New Jersey, onto a moving NJ Transit Train which was traveling to Pennsylvania, in an apparent attempt to die by suicide, police said.
Once the train traveled into Pennsylvania, a train conductor of a train on an opposing track saw the man and alerted NJ Transit after which they brought the involved train to a stop, police said.
Sergeant Ray Fanelli coordinated resources including Capitol Health EMS, Falls Fire Department, Morrisville Fire Company and Penndel Fire Company to assist as he worked with NJ Transit officials to de-energize the impacted and surrounding rail lines to make such a potentially dangerous rescue safe lLt Chris Clark said Monday evening
In the intervening time our officers, who have received *Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) , including Brian Fisher and Francisco Olmeda, kept the male, who was suffering from a compound fracture of his leg and a contusion to his head, engaged in dialogue through the rapport they established as they provided him with blankets, handwarmer’s, and a tourniquet during the more than hour and a half it took to safely rescue him from atop the train.
Following the incident, the male was transported to Capital Health, New Jersey, for evaluation and treatment, said police.
Train service interruption lasted for approximately three hours, police said.
