FORT LEE — Preventing a man from jumping off the George Washington Bridge is an heroic feat, that’s for sure. 
 
 But when you do it over and over, the word "superhero" comes to mind. 
 
 Port Authority Police Officer Jesse Turano was patrolling the bridge in his cruiser at about 10 p.m. Tuesday, toward the end of his regular shift, when he got a call about a pedestrian who had ignored a security guard’s order not to venture onto the closed walkway on the north side of the bridge’s upper level. 
 
 Turano, a seven-year veteran assigned to the bridge since 2010, cruised the far-right lane, closest to the walkway, where first he encountered the female security guard and then the man who had ignored her order. 
 
 "I asked him to stop several times and he refused," said Turano, 33, who lives in West Milford. "I kept driving, and as I looked at him I got the sense that he was possibly emotionally disturbed. I could just tell by his mannerisms and his behavior." 
 
 In the nick of time, Turano chased down the would-be jumper, grabbed him around the waist and hauled him back to safety just as the man tried to fling himself over the railing. 
 
 Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman said Wednesday that Turano has saved at least four other would-be jumpers on this bridge this year. 
 
 Turano shrugged off the figure and said it wasn’t something he and other officers kept track of. 
 
 Turano said he tried to stop the man by turning on his flashers, and eventually got out of his cruiser and climbed over the railing separating the bridge roadway from the walkway. 
 
 He said he followed the man as he walked at an increasingly brisk pace, his hands in his pockets, clearly trying to keep his distance from the officer. The water side of the walkway is bound by a three-foot masonry wall, topped by a metal railing extending up another couple of feet. 
 
 Turano ordered the man several times to take his hands out of his pockets. When he finally did, the officer rushed him. 
 
 CONNECT WITH US 
 
 
 
 On mobile or desktop: • Like The Star-Ledger on Facebook • Follow @starledger on Twitter And check out our redesigned mobile site by visiting NJ.com from any mobile browser. 
 
 "All of a sudden he put his hands on the outer railing," Turano said. "He put his foot on the cement, and he went to kick off the cement, and I just jumped at him. I put my right arm around his waist, then I wrapped my left arm around him, and once I got a secure grip on him I used my body weight to pull him down onto the walkway. 
 
 "I handcuffed him for both of our safety, then called for back up." 
 
 Turano rode in the ambulance with the man to Bergen Regional Medical Center, where he was admitted for psychological evaluation. The man, who was not identified, told Turano he’d been out of work for three years and was tired of looking for a job. 
 
 "He said he had enough and he wanted to kill himself," Turano said. "He kept thanking me and I said the best thanks you can give me is if you get yourself some help." 
 
 The GWB had a record 43 suicide attempts in 2012, 18 of them resulting in death, the New York Post reported in January. 
 
 Bobby Egbert, a spokesman for the Port Authority Policemen’s Benevolent Association, called Turano "an exceptional example of the dedication to duty that these police officers have." 
 
 Turano took it in stride. 
 
 "I guess its always good if you save somebody’s life," he said. "But I don’t really think about it too much." 
 
 RELATED COVERAGE 
 
 • George Washington Bridge saw record 18 suicides in 2012 
 
 
 
 • Fatal leap from George Washington Bridge is first of 2013 ||||| FORT LEE — A Port Authority police officer made a dramatic rescue of a man attempting to leap to his death from the George Washington Bridge Tuesday night. 
 
 Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman said that around 10 p.m., Officer Jesse Turano received a report of a potentially suicidal male. 
 
 The man had just walked past a security guard stationed on the eastern end of the bridge and onto its north walkway, ignoring the guard's commands to stop. 
 
 Turano located the man, a 40-year-old Queens resident, and turned on the emergency light on his cruiser to get his attention. Instead of stopping, however, the man sped up, running along the walkway, seeingly intent on making the more than 200-foot plunge into the Hudson River. 
 
 "The man then grabbed the outer railing of the bridge and tried to jump, but Officer Turano grabbed him around the waist while the man was airborne, pulled him back onto the walkway and secured him with handcuffs," Coleman said. 
 
 Medical units were called to the scene, and the man was taken to Bergen Regional Medical Center for evaluation. ||||| Several suspects were arrested at a Manhattan building as investigators tried to determine whether they sold drugs to actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, who was found dead of an apparent overdose. Brynn Gingras reports. (Published Thursday, Feb. 6, 2014) 
 
 Several suspects were arrested on drug charges at a Manhattan building as investigators tried to determine whether they sold heroin to actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, who was found dead of an apparent overdose. 
 
 Two law enforcement sources said Hoffman's phone number was found on the cell phone of one of the suspects. 
 
 Three suspects -- Robert Vineberg, 57, Max Rosenblum and Juliana Luchkiw, both 22 -- were arrested on drug charges Tuesday after police searched three apartments in the Mott Street building and allegedly found about 300 bags of heroin stamped "Red Bull" and "Black List," along with three small bags of cocaine and some unidentified pills, according to NBC News. 
 
 A fourth suspect initially named by sources is not being charged because he does not live in the building and investigators cannot link him to the case, sources said. 
 
 Philip Seymour Hoffman: Life & Times 
 
 All three suspects appeared before a judge Wednesday and entered not guilty pleas through their lawyers. They're being held until their next court appearance. 
 
 Luchkiw's lawyer, Stephen Turano, said his client had no relationship with Hoffman and that she was "in the wrong place at the wrong time." He said he believes the large amounts of recovered heroin were found in the other apartments. 
 
 Rosenblum and Luchkiw are a couple and live in the same apartment. Turano said only small amounts of cocaine and marijuana were recovered from their apartment, not heroin. 
 
 Police are looking into whether the suspects supplied drugs to Hoffman, who was found dead in the bathroom of his West Village apartment Sunday with a syringe in his arm, sources say. The Oscar-winning actor had been dead several hours when he was found by a friend and is suspected to have died of an overdose. 
 
 Actor's Death Sheds Light on New Heroin Wave 
 
 The death of Phiilip Seymour Hoffman is shedding light on the new wave of heroin, the power of addiction, and the boom in the drug's popularity. Marc Santia reports. (Published Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2014) 
 
 The medical examiner said Wednesday that the autopsy was inconclusive as to the cause and manner of death. Authorities are awaiting further test results, including toxicology. 
 
 Dozens of bags of heroin were found in Hoffman's apartment, along with prescription drugs and a bag of white powder police were testing for cocaine. Some of the heroin found there was stamped "Ace of Spades." 
 
 Hoffman's last known contacts on Saturday night were with his longtime girlfriend around 8 p.m., and a screenwriter friend about 9 p.m., officials said. 
 
 Sources say bank records show Hoffman withdrew $1,200 from an ATM at a supermarket near his West Village home between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. the night he died. A witness told investigators he saw Hoffman speaking with two men wearing messenger bags as he withdrew the money. 
 
 Philip Seymour Hoffman Found Dead: NYPD 
 
 Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead Sunday in his Manhattan apartment of an apparent heroin overdose, law enforcement sources said. Ida Siegal reports. (Published Monday, Feb. 3, 2014) 
 
 Detectives are looking into whether he bought the drugs the night of his death. 
 
 Hoffman, who was 46 and had three children, won the Oscar for Best Actor in 2006 for his starring role in "Capote." He was nominated for Oscars three other times, including for 2012's "The Master," and he earned two Tony nominations for his work on Broadway. 
 
 Hoffman spoke over the years about past struggles with drug addiction. After 23 years sober, he admitted in interviews last year to falling off the wagon and developing a heroin problem that led to a stint in rehab. 
 
 --Katy Tur contributed to this story
– Port Authority Police Officer Jesse Turano was patrolling the George Washington Bridge Tuesday night when he got a call about a man who had entered a closed walkway, even after a security guard ordered him not to. When he got there, Turano "could just tell by his mannerisms" that the man "was possibly emotionally disturbed," he tells the Star-Ledger. When the man put his hands on the outer railing and braced himself to kick off, Turano sprang into action. "Officer Turano grabbed him around the waist while the man was airborne [and] pulled him back onto the walkway," a Port Authority rep tells NJ.com. All of which might be amazing for some people, but not for Turano—it was the fifth time this year he has stopped a would-be jumper, says the rep. Turano shrugs off any suggestion that he is, in the Star-Ledger's words, a "superhero." "I guess it's always good if you save somebody's life," he says. "But I don't really think about it too much." The jumper, at least, seemed appreciative. "He kept thanking me and I said the best thanks you can give me is if you get yourself some help." The New York Post reports that 2012 saw a record number of suicides on the bridge: 18, as well as 43 attempts.