NJ officer saves 1-month-old baby tossed from 2nd-story balcony, police say

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — A New Jersey man is facing an attempted murder charge after he tossed a 1-month-old infant from a second-story Jersey City balcony on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Officer Eduardo Matute with the Jersey City Police Department is being heralded a hero for catching the baby, multiple media outlets reported.

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Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop later shared a photo on Instagram showing Matute cradling the infant at a nearby hospital.

“Thankfully the baby wasn’t harmed physically,” Fulop wrote.

Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione, a city spokeswoman, told NJ.com that the ordeal began Saturday morning when officers received a report of a man “dangling a baby over a balcony” on the second floor of a Rose Avenue building.

According to the Northern Highlands Daily Voice, onlookers pleaded with the man, who has not been identified publicly, to not drop the child, and five officers positioned themselves below the balcony in case he did.

(WARNING: Video contains offensive language) Click here to watch video of the incident filmed by one of the bystanders and provided to the Daily Voice.

“Don’t do it, brother,” the man videoing the standoff can be heard saying. “This is sick.”

Officers, including Matute, set up a perimeter to negotiate with the man, and are being credited with saving the child’s life, NJ.com reported.

“Kudos to the JCPD and all the officers involved for their heroics and for bringing a safe conclusion to this dangerous situation,” Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said in a prepared statement.

In addition to the attempted murder charge, the unidentified man has also been charged with aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of a child. The baby was hospitalized as a precaution, the Daily Voice reported.

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