Cops Fish Engagement Ring From Inwood Sidewalk Grate

INWOOD, NY — Officers from the highly-trained NYPD Emergency Services Unit embarked on a mission to rescue an Uptown woman's engagement ring Wednesday after she dropped it down a sidewalk grate, the NYPD's 34th precinct announced on social media.

Carolina Balbuena was reaching into her pocket for her Metrocard at the bus stop near Broadway and Thayer Street when her ring fell out of her pocket and through a grate on the side of the street, she told the New York Post.

"At first it bounced, then it went inside the grate," Balbuena told The Post. "I was like 'Oh my god, what can I do?' I started crying."

After her fiancee and relatives suggested Balbuena fish the ring out herself with clothing hangers or fishing wire, she rang the NYPD for help, according to the report. Officers from the Emergency Services Unit — which often finds itself responding to bomb threats and high-risk rescues — arrived at the scene, removed the grate and went down below the sidewalk to retrieve the ring, police said.

"Yesterday i was helped by @NYPD34Pct after my ring fell down a metal crate, I thought my day was over but thankfully, they were able to come help me out , thank you [heart emojis]," Balbuena posted Thursday on Twitter.

The NYPD's 34th precinct, which spans Inwood and parts of Washington Heights, responded in a Tweet: "This #ValentinesDay will feel extra special for Carolina... Let's hear it for the Happy ending."

Photo by NYPD 34th Precinct