Good sign: Cop saves deaf man

From: New York Daily News, NY - Oct 14, 2004

A Brooklyn detective who knows sign language helped rescue a distraught deaf man who was threatening to jump off a roof yesterday, police said.

Detective Anita Golden was called to the tense scene at the Marlboro Houses in Gravesend at about 2:30 p.m. She arrived to find Dwayne Jones, 25, straddling a chain-link fence atop the seven-story building, unable to hear cops talking to him nearby.

First, Golden spelled out her name. Then she asked him his and the man started to open up.

"He said he had a fight with his girlfriend earlier at the building," said the 10-year NYPD vet. "He just felt that his heart was broken and he wanted to die."

Ten minutes later, Golden distracted Jones long enough for Emergency Service Unit cops to reel him back onto the roof.

Golden, who started signing lessons two years ago, said the rescue persuaded her to study harder. "It only reaffirmed that's what I need to do," she said.

Tony Sclafani

© 2004 Daily News, L.P.