A former police officer who lost both his job and his apartment faces jail time after threatening to kill himself by leaping into the ice-covered Moscow River from the Krymsky Bridge in downtown Moscow, RIA-Novosti reported Monday.
Rescuers from the Emergency Situations Ministry plucked police Major Mkrtych Aivazyan, 45, from atop the bridge Sunday, and police subsequently detained him.
A former beat cop in the Perovo district in eastern Moscow, Aivazyan was fired from the city police force four years ago. He was also evicted from an apartment that the city had provided for the duration of his service on the police force.
Aivazyan tried to get his job back by going to court, but to no avail. When on the bridge Sunday, Aivazyan held up a poster, saying, "I am homeless, and I live here under a court decision."
He faces detention of up to 15 days if convicted on charges of violating public order.
The Krymsky Bridge is a steel suspension bridge known as a favorite place for suicides. It carries the Garden Ring Road across the Moscow River and is located southwest of the Kremlin.