Officer pulls man from parking garage ledge in Chicago

A Chicago-area police officer is being hailed a hero for saving the life of a man who perched himself on the ledge of a parking garage.

Surveillance video shows the man seen in a red shirt, straddling a railing, just inches wide and several feet above the ground.

At the same time, an off-duty police officer was leaving a nearby restaurant.

He says the man was screaming, apparently distraught and looked like he was going to jump.

Detective Ken Carter of the Evanston police department says, "At one point, he threw his wallet down as well as his cell phone. Where he

said he was going, he wouldn't need his cell phone. He made that statement. He didn't need his cell phone or his wallet anymore."

The officer called for backup, then as detectives continued to talk to the man from the ground, the officer snuck up from behind.

He grabbed the man just in time.

The man was eventually taken away on a stretcher.