Patient Talked Down From Roof of South Brookline Mental Hospital

Police and hospital officials were able to talk a potentially suicidal patient off the roof of Bournwood Hospital on Saturday by offering him a cigarette.

Police were called to the hospital, located on 300 South St. in South Brookline, around 4:15 p.m. on Aug. 28 for an "agitated" patient who had climbed on top of a hospital building. Officers set up a perimeter around the building in case the patient jumped, but a doctor told police that the patient agreed if the firefighters raised a ladder for him to use, he would be allowed to have a cigarette when he came down.

The man was safely escorted off the roof and allowed to smoke. A hospital supervisor told police the man had apparently used an awning in the hospital smoking area to climb on the roof.