Man Files $2 Million Lawsuit Against NYPD Officers Who Stopped Him From Jumping Off Brooklyn Bridge
Theodore Rigsby, 35, of Long Island, New York is suing the New York Police Department for $2 million, claiming mental anguish, wrongful life, and failure to be allowed to die freely.On the evening of December 21, 2014, a woman called 9-1-1 saying that a man was standing on the railing of the historic Brooklyn Bridge, threatening to commit suicide. When officers arrived on the scene, they found Rigsby, who refused to be talked down by the officers. Officers Garret Miguel Cruz and Carmine Seinfeld sprung into quick action, leaping for the man and pulling him down off the railing and transported him to the 33rd precinct headquarters in Brooklyn. Rigsby then spent two weeks under constant mental evaluation at the Cloverleaf Mental Health Services hospital, and was then released.Earlier this week, Rigsby hired a lawyer, Arnold C. Jacobson, and filed the wrongful life lawsuit against the NYPD. Jacobson said in a WNYC interview that his client was not treated fairly. âMr. Rigsby and the great city of New York were dealt an unfair hand of ill-advised justice when officers prevented him from jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge,â Jacobson said. âMy client was viciously attacked and manhandled as he was yanked off the railing. He suffered several bruises to the upper arm and now lives in a state of depression.âWitnesses on the scene say they were greatly disapointed when the officers kept Rigsby from jumping, such as Leo Mansetti, 32, of Brooklyn, âMan, I was bored to tears and stuck in traffic, and then I pulled up next to this scene. A bunch of us were honking and cheering the guy on telling him to take one for the team and stuff like that ya know? Then the cops came andÂ messed it all up. It sucked. But what else is new? Thatâs how the cops are here. Welcome to New York,â Mansetti scoffed.Â