An off-duty Evanston police detective saved a 22-year-old Evanston man this weekend from jumping off the top of the Maple Avenue parking garage.
The detective, Ken Carter, was coming out of a downtown restaurant at about 5 p.m. Sunday when one of his family members noticed the man standing on a ledge on the top floor of the garage.
Carter notified the dispatch center and then proceeded to the top floor of the garage.
The man, who police would not identify, was extremely distraught, police said, and told the officers he was going to jump. Then he threw his wallet and cell phone to the ground below.
As two detectives talked with the man, Carter crawled along the ledge and grabbed the man until he could be pulled to safety and transported to Evanston Hospital for treatment.
The incident was captured on surveillance video and can be viewed on YouTube.
In a media release Tuesday, the department commended Detective Carter “for his initiative and his selfless actions that resulted in the saving of a human life.”
