ONLY ON CLIFFVIEW PILOT: The man who jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge after he crashed his car while being chased by Palisades Interstate Parkway Police was a New York state corrections officer from Middletown, N.Y. who'd argued with his earlier that morning, a law enforcement source told CLIFFVIEWPILOT.COM.
The unidentified officer's body was seen floating in the river after the 9:30 a.m. leap, but authorities had been unable to find it as of last night.
Fort Lee police had already joined the Thursday morning chase when the officer smashed his Pontiac into another car on the New York side of the bridge, a law enforcement source with direct knowledge of the incident told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.
Police in his Orange County hometown said he made the nearly 70-mile drive after having an undisclosed argument with his wife this morning. She told them she thought he was headed to New York City, apparently to visit his family. No complaints were filed, they said.
A PIP patrol unit pulled the car over as it exited onto Hudson Terrace after the driver failed to yield to traffic while coming from a service station nearest the bridge. But as the officers got, the Pontia sped off, said PIP Lt. Michael Coppola. A Fort Lee patrol car pulled behind the PIP car soon after, a law enforcement source told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.
Before the officers could get to him, he leapt a short guard rail, crossed the southern walkway of the span's upper level, and went over the side.
EXCLUSIVE: Andy Rosenberg watched in amazement as a New York corrections officer leaped off the George Washington Bridge after their cars crashed during a police chase. "He just hopped out of his car and made a beeline. He never even paused," Rosenberg told CLIFFVIEWPILOT in THIS EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW.
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