BELFAST (Nov 3): A 19-year-old male from Stockton Springs was removed from the railing of Veterans Memorial Bridge on Monday morning, Nov. 3, and later admitted to a psychiatric institution.
Belfast Police Chief Jeff Trafton said a call regarding a male straddling the railing of the Route 1 bridge was received at 8:12 a.m. Monday. Three minutes later, the first police units arrived and found the distraught man with one leg on the sidewalk and the other on the outside of the railing.
Patrolman Eric Kelley and a host of other law enforcement personnel from the local department, the Waldo County Sheriff's Department and the Maine State Police talked with the young man until they got close enough to him to remove him from the railing.
Trafton, who was at the scene, said the the man was distraught over several personal issues, including a breakup with his girlfriend.
The male was taken to Waldo County General Hospital in Belfast for an evaluation and then admitted to a treatment program, Trafton said.
The last person to contemplate jumping from the bridge actually did it and survived unscathed in August 2005. The 19-year-old from Puerto Rico swam ashore after his jump and was taken to a hospital for evaluation. A youth jumped from the bridge with a noose around his neck in 2003 and survived, though he was seriously injured. Several others were also talked down from the bridge in recent years.
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