New Yorker, 33, is charged with criminal mischief and trespass after jumping 45 feet into 9/11 Memorial reflecting pool, leaving him with leg injury

Police have charged a New York man with trespassing and criminal mischief after he broke into a home 20ft ‘central void’ e 9/11 reflecting pool.

Jeffrey Hernandez, 33, was taken to hospital with a leg injury after jumping 30 meters head first into the pool. NYC memorial.

Horrifying video footage showed him lying upside down and peering over the edge into the abyss before he slid forward and fell headfirst to the bottom on Monday afternoon.

Hernandez, of Pearl Street in Manhattan, had already suffered an injury after jumping 30 meters into the memorial pool in front of horrified onlookers. The video showed a head wound and water filled with blood.

An NYPD spokesman confirmed he had been charged after being evaluated by doctors at Bellevue Hospital.

This is the horrifying moment Hernandez slipped into the 20m ‘center gap’ of the 9/11 reflecting pool after jumping 30m into NYC’s memorial pool

They said: ‘On Monday, October 9, 2023, at approximately 1:30 p.m., police officers responded to the North Pool at the World Trade Center within the boundaries of precinct 1.

“Upon arrival, it was discovered that a 33-year-old male had jumped into the North Pool.

“The man was arrested at the scene. EMS responded and transported the male to NYC Health & Hospitals/Bellevue in stable condition with a left leg injury. The investigation remains ongoing.’

The Fire Department quickly rushed to rescue the man from the center point which is filled with about 18 centimeters of water. He reportedly told one of the officers that he ‘did it for his father.’

Hernandez was rushed to a local hospital, complaining of ‘back pain’ and suffering from an injured leg. The area was reopened a short time later.

Officers received a call at 1.30pm on Monday to reports of a ‘jumper in the fountain’, with one person transported to Bellevue Hospital.

After a mental evaluation, the man could face charges of breaking the law.

It is unclear whether anyone has jumped into the reflecting pools in the past, with police previously raising concerns over the possible issue.

Another part of the footage showed that the jumper had already suffered an injury after jumping 30 meters into the memorial pond. A wound was visible on his head, and the water through which he waded into the edge was filled with blood

The man runs to the edge of the void as horrified onlookers look on, then stretches to look over the edge

Officers received a call at 1.30pm on Monday to reports of a ‘fountain jumper’, with one person transported to Bellevue Hospital

Former police commissioner Raymond Kelly said they had to consider the ‘possibility’ that someone could try to commit suicide at the monument.

Grief experts also claimed that the memorial could cause a ‘negative psychological reaction’, especially for those with a direct link to the atrocities.

Officials at the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum said a physical reference to a tragedy is a ‘trigger of grief.’

Kari F Watkins told the New York Times earlier: ‘People come to these places and start to understand their meaning.

“We’re teaching lessons of memory and resilience, and no matter what people are going through in their personal lives, they can relate to a story that’s being told here.”

The New York Police Department and the 9/11 Memorial did not immediately respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com.

Before the reflection pools were built, counterterrorism raised concerns that the sites could be an attraction for terrorist activity.

Glenn P. Corbett, an associate professor of fire science at John Jay College, said: ‘Our big concern a few years ago, in the original design, was terrorism, and now we add suicide to the equation.

“I think it’s going to happen – a suicide. I think it’s an incredibly emotional page.’