Police: Man Jumps in Hudson During Hurricane for 'The Thrill'

Paul, meet Irene. Irene, meet Paul.

During the height of the hurricane, 29-year-old Paul Decker from Glens Falls, NY, decided to jump in the Hudson River “for the thrill,” according to police.

Decker was together with a friend, who lives in Hoboken, and decided to pull a prank and swim to the nearby sail boats, according to police reports.

Decker then jumped and his friend—recording this on his cell phone—lost sight of him shortly after “and began to call out for him,” according to police reports. His friend then returned to his apartment on uptown Clinton Street, changed his clothes and went back to look for Decker, police said.

Around 5:40 a.m.—during the height of the hurricane—Decker’s friend approached a PSE&G worker to tell him that his friend jumped in the water, according to police reports. Police arrived to the area of 15th street and met the man, trying to make his own way into the water, who said his friend had jumped in the river, according to reports. 

The PSE&G worker said in an e-mail that "two of the cops almost went in," trying to prevent Decker's friend from jumping in as well, and called it a "life and death situation."

After police arrived at the scene, the New York Harbor patrol was notified, as well as the United States Coast Guard, according to the police report. Officers from the Hudson County Sherrif’s office were also present.

A search for Decker was unsuccessful, but his red T-shirt was found close to the fence to the river, according to police reports. Meanwhile, the Coast Guard and the New York Harbor Patrol said they did not have enough available vessels to provide assistance, because of the extreme hurricane conditions at that time, according to the reports.

While the video of Decker’s jump in the water was being watched in headquarters, Decker was found walking in the area of 12th and Clinton Streets, according to the report. Police transported him to the precinct and charged him with disorderly conduct.  

But, according to police, Decker had an explanation for the jump.

“I didn’t jump in the river,” police said Decker told them, “the river jumped on me.”