Police: Woman Pulled From East River After Man Tried To Save Her
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Rescue crews pulled a woman from the East River early Thursday morning after a man jumped into the water to try to save her, police said.
It all started when police got the call around 5:30 a.m. that a 20-year-old woman had jumped into the water near the Williamsburg Bridge and was swimming south towards Pier 36.
Officers say a 21-year-old man saw what happened and jumped in to help.
"He went in to save her. She went under the water and he lost sight," said NYPD Officer Vincent Fulgieri. "By the time we got here, he was out of the water."
CBS2's Lisa Rozner heard from the Good Samaritan later Thursday night.
"You see a person -- naked. So she said, 'I'm going to go for it,' and she went for it, she dove. She was saying, 'I'm from Boston,'" said Norman Pope. "I haven't seen her come up. So my first reaction was to save her."
The 29-year-old said it's been about 15 years since he swam, but he didn't think twice about jumping in. The water was cold and the current strong.
"I jeopardized my life to save hers," he said. "But she was playing with the water, like it was nothing."
Pope said when he realized the water was more than he could handle, he waited some 30 minutes for someone to come help him.
"I screamed, 'help, help, help!" he said.
By about 6 a.m., the NYPD's Harbor Unit was on scene as the woman swam underneath the pier, fighting rescue crews trying to save her, police said.
"She was very despondent, did not have any desire to come out of the water," Fulgieri said. "We told her we were there to help her. She had not interest in coming out."
Police said the woman was screaming and yelling.
"We could hear her screaming so we tried to maintain voice contact with her," said Harbor Unit Det. Meghann Kinsella. "We tried to tell her we were helping her."
The woman, who was naked, was eventually pulled out of the water and crews safely placed her onto a waiting boat.
"When she first jumped in, she had no clothes on," said Lt. Craig Rorro with the Harbor Unit.
Police said in all, the woman was in the water for about an hour.
As for Pope, he said he didn't regret his actions.
"I'd rather die saving this person," he said. "As long as I did something good."
However, he is happy he could come home to his 6-month-old daughter unscathed.