Man plunges nine stories from NJ high-rise, lands on BMW — and survives
A man plunged nine stories from a high-rise in Jersey City, New Jersey, landed on a BMW — and miraculously survived, according to officials and a witness.
The 31-year-old crashed through the roof of the black Beemer 330i parked below 26 Journal Square at 10:20 a.m. Wednesday, then stood up with his right arm dangling at his side and asked, “What happened?”
“I heard a big boom and I didn’t think it was a person at first,” said Smith. “The back window of the car just busted out — exploded. Then the guy jumped up and started screaming. His arm was all twisted.”
“I heard a big boom and I didn’t think it was a person at first,” said Smith. “The back window of the car just busted out — exploded. Then the guy jumped up and started screaming. His arm was all twisted.”
“I was like, ‘Oh my God!’ I was shocked. It was like being in a movie,” said Smith, who works in sales and had been strolling to a nearby McDonald’s.
“He was like, ‘What happened?’ And was like, You fell,” she said.
“I was thinking, thank God, it probably helped that he had a fluffy jacket on,” she said, adding she thought the coat may have shielded him from deeper wounds.
She quickly called 911, then took jaw-dropping photos and videos of the aftermath, including graphic footage of the man screaming in pain with upper body injuries. The video also shows a face mask strap still dangling from the guy’s ear, despite falling roughly 100 feet.
The man, who jumped from an open window on the ninth floor, was rushed to a hospital by ambulance and was in critical condition Thursday, said Jersey City spokeswoman Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione.
The man didn’t work inside building and it was unclear why he was there, workers and witnesses said. He has refused to give cops his name and was not being cooperative as of Thursday afternoon, according to a source familiar with the case.
“He fell into the car through the sunroof, then climbed out of the car and fell on the ground. He was trying to get up but people were trying to get him to stay down —‘You don’t know how hurt you are,’” said Mark Bordeaux, 50, who works in the building and saw the aftermath of the jump.
“So he stayed there until the police and ambulances came. He kept saying, ‘Leave me alone, I want to die.’ You saw one of his arms was clearly broken, but he was conscious, he was moving,” he said.
“He wanted to die. That was his agenda. But God had something else in mind.”
Police were investigating Thursday but said the incident does not involve suspicious circumstances, according to Wallace-Scalcione.
People who have plunged from much lower heights have died or killed others in recent months, including a man who jumped from a parking garage in San Diego, Calif., in September and landed on a woman below — killing them both.
In November 2019, a 7-year-old Bronx boy survived a harrowing nine-story fall from his family’s apartment but later died as a result of his injuries.
On Wednesday, Jersey City police briefly shut down roads near the high-rise, including the Journal Square PATH Station and Hudson County Community College.
“I heard a big boom and I didn’t think it was a person at first,” said Smith. “The back window of the car just busted out — exploded. Then the guy jumped up and started screaming. His arm was all twisted.”
“I heard a big boom and I didn’t think it was a person at first,” said Smith. “The back window of the car just busted out — exploded. Then the guy jumped up and started screaming. His arm was all twisted.”
“I was like, ‘Oh my God!’ I was shocked. It was like being in a movie,” said Smith, who works in sales and had been strolling to a nearby McDonald’s.
“He was like, ‘What happened?’ And was like, You fell,” she said.
“I was thinking, thank God, it probably helped that he had a fluffy jacket on,” she said, adding she thought the coat may have shielded him from deeper wounds.
She quickly called 911, then took jaw-dropping photos and videos of the aftermath, including graphic footage of the man screaming in pain with upper body injuries. The video also shows a face mask strap still dangling from the guy’s ear, despite falling roughly 100 feet.
The man, who jumped from an open window on the ninth floor, was rushed to a hospital by ambulance and was in critical condition Thursday, said Jersey City spokeswoman Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione.
The man didn’t work inside building and it was unclear why he was there, workers and witnesses said. He has refused to give cops his name and was not being cooperative as of Thursday afternoon, according to a source familiar with the case.
“He fell into the car through the sunroof, then climbed out of the car and fell on the ground. He was trying to get up but people were trying to get him to stay down —‘You don’t know how hurt you are,’” said Mark Bordeaux, 50, who works in the building and saw the aftermath of the jump.
“So he stayed there until the police and ambulances came. He kept saying, ‘Leave me alone, I want to die.’ You saw one of his arms was clearly broken, but he was conscious, he was moving,” he said.
“He wanted to die. That was his agenda. But God had something else in mind.”
Police were investigating Thursday but said the incident does not involve suspicious circumstances, according to Wallace-Scalcione.
People who have plunged from much lower heights have died or killed others in recent months, including a man who jumped from a parking garage in San Diego, Calif., in September and landed on a woman below — killing them both.
In November 2019, a 7-year-old Bronx boy survived a harrowing nine-story fall from his family’s apartment but later died as a result of his injuries.
On Wednesday, Jersey City police briefly shut down roads near the high-rise, including the Journal Square PATH Station and Hudson County Community College.
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