Lawrenceville Man Threatens To Harm Self, Taken Into Custody
LAWRENCEVILLE (KDKA) - Police practiced their patience as a man threatened to jump from the roof of a home in Lawrenceville Wednesday morning.
It was a very tense couple of hours for residents in the 5400-block of Butler Street as a man was perched on a roof threating to hurt himself. However, for police, patience and persistence paid off.
It was a frightening sight as a distraught man three stories up, bathed in a spot lights threatened to jump.
"Probably about 3 to 3:30 this morning, I heard a banging on the door. I looked out at all the bright lights out there and I come out and they said there's a guy on the roof. I looked up and here it was my neighbor," a man who did not want to be identified said. "I know he wanted to talk to his girlfriend, but I don't know what it was about."
As the sun rose, the man, who was apparently upset over a number of things in his life, spoke to police on his phone, smoked cigarettes, and became very agitated a few times ad almost slipped off the roof.
Rush hour traffic was detoured away from the crisis.
"It's kind of waiting game. You never know what's [going to] happen in that [kind of] situation," the neighbor said
Negotiators did just that and over five hours after it began, it was over. Pittsburgh Police Lt. Victor Joseph scrambled up a fire engine ladder and helped the man to safety.
"Eventually he just got tired and hopefully realized it was the right thing to do to come down," the neighbor said.
The man was put in a squad car. Police allowed his relatives to speak to him before driving him from the scene.
His name is not being released.
The individual was taken for psychological evaluation and there is no word on what, if any, charges will be filed.
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