Daring Rescue of Suicidal Man Wanted by FBI Dangling from 31st Floor of West Side High Rise

In a daring rescue, a member of the NYPD’s elite ESU rescue team rappelled down the side of a high rise apartment building on West 56th St. and forced a man who was wanted by the FBI and dangling from a 31st floor window back inside his apartment, saving his life.

The man, identified in some reports as Ian Mitchell, was reportedly wanted by the FBI to face fraud charges. When the FBI raided his apartment with a warrant for his arrest, he smashed through a window at around 8:40 a.m. and was dangling from a ledge on the 31st floor.

After a standoff of more than eight hours at the City Spire luxury condo building, ESU member James Tobin rappelled down the side of the building from a floor above and used his feet to push the distraught man back into the apartment, where he was taken into custody.

“This is another example of your NYPD working alongside our partners putting their lives on the line every day,” said NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell at press conference on the evening of March 23.

“All New Yorkers should applaud their bravery,” said Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey, speaking about the ESU team that had saved the man’s life.

“Members of the elite Emergency Services Unit responded there and they showed patience, care, commitment,” Maddrey said. “They did not know what that man was thinking, but ESU made a decision that nothing was going to happen to that man today. And they kept their word...What they did today was beyond brave.”

Mitchell had posed as a scion a wealthy family from Jamaica, according to the New York Post, although it was not clear if that was why he was sought by the FBI.

The FBI did not return several calls seeking comment about their raid gone bad.