When a 41-year-old woman suffering a mental health crisis climbed some 30 stories up a Brooklyn high-rise on May 7 and scaled a glass partition before dangling over the edge of a terrace, she had one plan in mind — to end her own life. However, four cops had other plans.
Officers Phillip Aban and Katarzyna Kwasnik of the 84th Precinct arrived at the building on Duffield Street in Downtown Brooklyn at 1:15 p.m. on May 7 and immediately attempted to talk her down. In dramatic body-camera footage, Aban asked the woman what he could do to help, in response she told him to tell her parents that she loves them.
It was clear in that moment that she had grave intentions. Neither Aban nor Kwasnik would let that happen.
“It was definitely a heart-wrenching visual to see this woman in crisis on the ledge. And my initial reaction was to just kind of rush towards her, to try to grab her and pull her back to safety. But I had to stop myself and revert to my training, because there’s a possibility that if we had to rush towards her, it could have triggered her to jump,” Aban remembered. “So? I reintroduced myself with my common name, which my friends and family call me. And then she responded to that.”
Ian Woodard, Katarzyna Kwasnik, Phillip Aban, and Vinson Hartenfels.Photo by Dean Moses 
Vinson Hartenfels speaks to the distressed woman.NYPD
As Aban held her hand and spoke with her, Kwasnik called her mother and put her on speakerphone to calm her.
“The mom was just there with her the whole time, giving her words of encouragement, telling her not to do it, that she’s loved, that she cares about her,” Kwasnik said.
Meanwhile, members of the NYPD Emergency Services Unit, Ian Woodard and Vinson Hartenfels, geared up with harnesses and helmets. Woodard climbed over the partition and joined the distraught woman, where he told her he would be with her for as long as she needed.
“I gave her distance, I gave her time. And when I knew she wanted to talk, I then shimmied my way close to her, and then that’s when she reached out to hold my hand,” Woodard said.
Heroism and heart from NY’s Finest.
When a woman was seated on the ledge of a high-rise building in Brooklyn, our officers quickly responded, using their training to save her life.
This is what it takes to protect and serve. pic.twitter.com/Iowo3fRBj1
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) May 9, 2026
Together, police were able to pull the woman over the glass barrier to safety and take her to the hospital.
The daring rescue was something the officers told amNewYork they would remember forever.
If you or a loved one is at risk of suicide or self-harm, call 988; operators are available 24 hours a day.
Together, police were able to pull the woman over the glass barrier to safety. NYPD 
The equipment police used .Photo by Dean Moses