Off-duty Evanston cop pulls man from parking garage ledge

EVANSTON, Ill. (WLS) -- An off-duty cop helped save the life of an apparently distraught man perched on the ledge of a six-story parking garage in downtown Evanston.

Police confronted the desperate man high above busy Maple Avenue on Sunday evening.

"I'm just thankful that things turned out the way they did, and I had my co-workers there to help me out and support me," said Det. Ken Carter, Evanston Police Dept.

Det. Carter was off-duty and leaving a restaurant across from an Evanston parking garage when his fiancee noticed a young man pacing on the top deck.

"We both observed some erratic behaviors. He was screaming, couldn't really make out what he was saying, but he was wiping his face because it was raining and kept looking over the ledge," Carter said.

Carter called for help, and soon, fellow detectives were talking to the man. His feet straddled the railing on a ledge just inches wide.

"At one point, he threw his wallet down as well as his cell phone," Carter said. "Where he said he was going, he wouldn't need his cell phone. He made that statement. He didn't need his cell phone or his wallet anymore."

As detectives continued to engage the man, Carter approached from behind. He is seen crawling along the ledge, and in a perilous moment, he jumps up just in time.

"Not sure if I grabbed his arm or his back. I just grabbed him and tried to extract him off the ledge and held on to him. Once I put hands on him, he seemed like he went forward as if he wanted to jump. But my co-workers were right there," Carter said.

The man, a 22-year-old Evanston resident, was taken away on a stretcher to a hospital for treatment.

"I'm just so grateful that things turned out the way they did," Carter said.

Carter says he just hopes the man gets the help he needs.