The woman was standing on the overpass ledge facing Route 17, police said.
CARLSTADT - Police officers from several jurisdictions were credited Friday with stopping a suicidal woman from jumping off a bridge on Paterson Plank Road.
The tense situation began about 2:10 a.m. Sunday when Carlstadt police received a report of a woman who had climbed over the fence on the Route 120 North overpass and was threatening to jump.
When Carlstadt police Officers James Winand and William Pangaro arrived, they saw the woman standing on the overpass ledge facing Route 17, police said in a statement.
The highway was closed to traffic with assistance from East Rutherford, Rutherford and Wood-Ridge police departments.
Pangaro was approached the woman while Winand climbed onto the overpass ledge, police said. Pangaro spoke with the woman in an attempt to convince her not to jump, police said.
"She was grasping the overpass fence and crying and appeared to be distracted by the overhead lights of our patrol vehicles," police said in the statement.
Pangaro advised all officers to turn off their overhead lights and continued to speak with the woman about why she wanted to hurt herself, according to the statement
Eventually the woman walked toward Winand and the officer, with help from Sgt.Craig Capuano of Rutherford Police Department grabbed her and got her off the ledge.
The woman was turned over to officers with the East Rutherford Police Department.
An investigation later revealed the woman had been at a nearby establishment earlier in the evening, left and walked to the overpass. After climbing over the fence she was spotted by a passing motorist who called 911, police said.
Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
