On Friday afternoon, the Ithaca Police Department received several calls regarding a man in the road on Route 13 in front of Ithaca High School who was having a mental health crisis and had a one-month-old puppy with him.
Patrol vehicles were used to stop the southbound lane of travel on Route 13 to alleviate the possibility of the man being struck by a car. Officers attempted to deescalate the situation but the man started to walk towards the northbound lane of oncoming traffic. To prevent him from running into oncoming traffic, officers detained the man in the grassy median. After a brief struggle, the man was placed into custody and taken to the hospital for a mental health evaluation.
Police say that although a few close calls were reported, the man was not struck by any of the cars. The puppy was not injured and was subsequently turned over to the Tompkins County SPCA.
