Officer pulls man from tracks just before train arrives

Finally, with only a second to spare, Mr Ortiz pulls the man to safety and the passenger train rushes past. But Ortiz reiterated that he felt he had no choice but to attempt to save the man’s life, telling NBC, “Had I just stood there and done nothing?”

The rescued man was not identified.

“I told the gentleman, ‘Sir, just have a seat here on the bench, ‘” he continued.

You’re on the go! He met the man on the platform. But the man again said, “I’m not going to jail”. Without hesitation, Ortiz jumped down to help. Then Ortiz looked up and saw a train approaching.

“I waited for the train to come in and before the conductor could tell me what the problem was, the individual exited the train”, Ortiz told CNN. “I ran ahead of him and cut him off”.

“At that point he’s like, ‘I just want to die, I just want to die, ‘” Ortiz explained.

Ortiz followed, after checking that there were no oncoming trains. Once the man was in custody, he was given medication, and had a chance to talk to Officer Ortiz. “In my mind, I was like this is not going to happen, not while I’m here”. “Then I said to myself, ‘I’m going to pull him one more time'”.

The man, who apparently had been in an argument on a previous train before jumping down on the tracks, refused to move for Ortiz despite a train bearing down on the two.

The man was taken to a medical center to be evaluated. Once Jefferson was hospitalized, Ortiz said, Jefferson calmed down, thanked him and apologized for his action at the station.

“It was an unbelievable feat”, Ortiz said.

The officer struggled with the man before eventually pulling him to the safety seconds before the train arrived.