Man facing FBI search warrant threatened to jump from NYC skyscraper in standoff

A New York City man threatened to jump from a 20th-floor window of a skyscraper in downtown Manhattan on Wednesday after the FBI attempted to serve him a search warrant, authorities said. 

Ian Mitchell, 35, allegedly broke into an apartment in the 72-story CitySpire building on West 56th Street and threatened to jump out of the window at around 8:40 a.m.

Video captured of the incident shows Mitchell sitting on the window frame with his legs dangling from the window, with the glass shattered around him, as people watch him from below. 

Down below, police can be heard telling bystanders to move away or get inside one of the nearby buildings to avoid getting hurt. 

“They found the male in crisis. He was wanted by another agency, and instead of going peacefully with that agency, he thought of taking his own life,” said NYPD Chief Jeffrey Maddrey. “That male hung out that window, one foot out, off the 31st floor of a high-rise in New York City.”

The NYPD Emergency Services United responded to the incident and tried to talk with Mitchell to get away from the window, according to sources. At around 1 p.m., Mitchell got up from the window frame and back into the apartment. However, he barricaded himself. 

The standoff ended at around 5 p.m., after an NYPD Emergency Service Unit officer rappelled outside of the skyscraper from the floor above and made his way into the apartment. Mitchell was ushered out of the building and taken to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation.

Mitchell is wanted for a scheme he ran back in 2015 when he posed himself as a relative of wealthy Jamaican businessman Joseph Matalon and claimed to be an investment banker. 

The apartment belonged to Mitchell’s girlfriend, who was reportedly standing outside in the hallway with the police while he barricaded himself inside.