Police Pull Would-Be Leaper Off Ledge

Los Angeles police rescued a man threatening to jump from the ledge of a bank building 20 stories above Ventura Boulevard in Encino Thursday, ending a real-life drama that closed the San Fernando Valley’s busiest street during afternoon rush-hour traffic.

The man was later identified by police as James Pastorella, 24, a welder from Sherman Oaks. He was taken to Olive View Medical Center in Sylmar for psychiatric evaluation.

Pastorella was anguished by the breakup of a two-year relationship with his girlfriend earlier this week, police said, and he rode the elevator to the top of the Crocker Bank building at 15780 Ventura Boulevard at about 4 p.m.

Pedestrians spotted him, legs dangling over the ledge, and called police.

Police closed the street for two blocks between Haskell and Gloria avenues. Motorists near the closed section were caught in a traffic jam that lasted until 6:30 p.m., when Pastorella was rescued. The California Highway Patrol also closed the Haskell Avenue off-ramp from the westbound Ventura Freeway.

Aided by a department psychologist, officers attempted to persuade Pastorella to step back from the ledge, said Sgt. Charles Meter, who eventually pulled him to safety. Twice, Pastorella ordered officers who were inching toward him from the roof to stand back; and twice, he stood up on the ledge, bringing his hands together in the fashion of a swimmer about to dive.

Among the hundreds of spectators on Ventura Boulevard, a cluster of teen-age boys and girls occasionally urged him to “jump!” The group grew silent when a Los Angeles fireman yelled: “Enough, he can hear you from there!”

As Pastorella looked to the street, he picked out a woman wearing a purple blouse who was shouting “jump!” Meter recalled.

“I talked to him about everything,” Meter said. “We both raced bikes (motorcycles) and were in the Marine Corps. We talked about girlfriends.”

“He was extremely lucid and intelligent. He was no dummy,” Meter added.

Police brought Pastorella’s former girlfriend, a North Hollywood woman, to the roof of the building. Pastorella, said Meter, wanted to hear that she still loved him.

The woman said it, but Pastorella didn’t believe her, the sergeant said. “He grew irritated, his fingers turned white by pressing against his hands,” he said.

The growing tension “was the razor’s edge,” so Meter and police Sgt. Fritz Konieczny, standing about three feet away, suddenly lunged for Pastorella and held onto his bulky-knit sweater, Meter said.

Meter said that Pastorella, his back to the street, tried to lean backward as police pulled him in. Pastorella was not angry, but “dismayed” that someone would take a risk trying to save him, Meter said.

Said Meter, “It was worth it. Always is when you get a chance to help someone.”