Manhattan, NY – A life-and-death drama of a suicidal teen on the George Washington Bridge unfolded right under the nose of a clueless security guard.
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The 19-year-old managed to climb to the top of the tower and call a friend to say he wanted to kill himself – without the guard noticing, sources said.
It wasn’t until Port Authority cops rolled up – summoned by the friend’s father – that the guard from FJC Security Services realized something was amiss.
The guard, Angel Laboy, was canned, but the lapse raised disturbing questions about security at a bridge that’s been the target of terrorists and the scene of suicides.
The episode led the Port Authority to hold off on a $102 million contract for FJC to supply unarmed guards to Kennedy Airport, agency sources said.
FJC spokesman Michael McKeon said the firm has a “one-strike-you’re-out” policy for employees and may add cameras and lights to avoid a repeat.
The incident happened about 8 p.m. Monday when a New Jersey college student took a half-dozen Percocets and drove to the bridge, a police report said.
He walked to an off-limits area near the northwest tower and saw an FJC employee in the tiny guard booth near the bridge cables, the report and sources said.
He later told Port Authority investigators “he saw the security guard sitting in the guard booth watching TV and laughing.”
He “walked past the guard, climbed over the barbed wire up toward the cables and sat there for about 10 minutes,” the report said.
Sources said Port Authority cops searched the guard booth and did not find a TV or laptop, and believe the young man may have mistaken an illuminated monitor for a television.
Once he passed Laboy, the teen decided he didn’t want to jump from a spot that wasn’t over water and climbed to the top.
Alone in the dark, he called his roommate at the College of New Jersey and said he was depressed and might jump. He was struggling with classes and reeling from a breakup.
The roommate kept him on the phone and called his own father, a state police sergeant. The dad alerted Port Authority police and helped direct its emergency services team to the teen’s perch, the report and sources said.
Police rescued him 600 feet above the water and took him to Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital.
FJC said it assigns only its most experienced guards to the bridge and that employees, including Laboy, have foiled 13 suicide attempts since 2007.
The Port Authority said it “demands the highest level of professionalism and vigilance in all of its security functions,” but some insiders were horrified.
“This time it was some poor messed up kid, but we were lucky. The GWB would be a crown jewel for some terrorist,” a Port Authority police source said.
“We can’t bank on luck.”
Was he bullied?
Where is reb nuchem when we need him?
this is terrible. how can someone use the bridge without paying the toll. if we could get these people to pay there fare share the PA would be in bessere shape.
When the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge was opened in 1964, it purposely did not include a pedestrian path, in an effort to prevent suicides. There is no reason why the George Washington Bridge should continue to have a pedestrian path. The pedestrain pathway should be closed to prevent future suicides, or attempted suicides. If someone wishes to go from Ft. Lee to Manhattan, there are buses, which they can take.
To #5 - The GW Bridge was opened in 1931; since times have changed, the pedestrian pathway should be closed. Not only do potential suicide jumpers endanger their own lives, but they also endanger the lives of the rescue workers, and the motorists on the span.
The teenagers friend saved his life.
I was actually on the other side of the bridge. traffic was to a standstill there it looked like there was a bomb there
theres a reason the guy was in a security booth and not an office