Conn. Police Officer on Emotional Bridge Rescue: 'It Was Two Humans That Needed Something'

Groton Police Officer Bryan Albee credits "being human" with helping him bring a distressed man to safety, an encounter that ended when the man asked him for a hug.

Joe Vince

May 21, 2026

2 min read

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Two Groton police officers pulled a man to safety from a bridge after building rapport during a mental health crisis, with the man agreeing to step back if one officer gave him a hug.
Officer Bryan Albee said the moment stood out when the man asked for that hug, calling it a sign of mutual trust during a critical encounter.
Albee credited crisis intervention training and a human-first approach, saying the experience reinforced the importance of empathy in policing.

A Connecticut police officer says the recent rescue of a man as he sat on the edge of a bridge has had a profound impact on him.

And it was the moment from that May 3 encounter that has lingered with Groton Police Officer Bryan Albee. It was when the man, who was suffering a mental health crisis at the time, asked Albee for a hug.

"It touched me," he told WTIC-TV. "That was something that he trusted me with, and that I trusted him with as well."

Albee, along with Officer Cristopher Brillon, responded to a call from ambulance personnel who saw a distressed man straddling the security barrier on the Gold Star Bridge, according to the department. The officers created a positive rapport with the man, who eventually agreed to come away from the edge of the bridge if Albee would give him a hug.

"It just felt like it wasn’t me as a police officer, and it wasn’t him as somebody else," Albee told WTIC of the experience. "It was two humans and two men that needed something."

Albee has been with department for four years, and he has gone through the Crisis Intervention Team training program during that time. Albee credits a simple idea that allows him to handle situations like the one on the bridge.

"Being a human is what gets you further in this job and keeps you grounded," he told WTIC. "It’s not just a badge."

About the Author

Joe Vince

Joining Endeavor Business Media in 2018, Joe has worked on the company's city services publications. He began working at OFFICER.com as the assistant editor. Before starting at Endeavor, Joe had worked for a variety of print and online news outlets, including the Indianapolis Star, the South Bend Tribune, Reddit and Patch.com.