Two Newark police officers rescued a distraught 13-year-old boy who was clinging to the outside of a fence for a third-floor fire escape and appeared ready to jump on Monday, authorities said.

The incident occurred about 5 p.m. at the city’s Youth Consultation Services on Broadway, a facility that helps families and children with special needs. The teen locked himself in a common area and got out onto the fire escape, according to police.

From inside the building, the officers saw the teen holding on to a chain-link fence surrounding the fire escape.

Body-worn cameras captured the rescue as well as the officers offering to help the distraught teen. The officers were identified as Sgt. A. Barbosa and Officer S. Johnson, both of the city’s Community Focus Team.

“Don’t do that, we care about you bro, don’t do it,” one officer says on the video.

The boy repeatedly asked to be left alone, but the officer managed to pull him through a gap between the fence and the building and onto the fire escape.

“We don’t want you to get hurt. This right here, man, this is not cool,” says the other officer. “Whatever’s on your mind, we’re listening.”

The officers asked the teen the last time he ate, to which he responded, “I didn’t eat all day.”

They then offered to buy him something to eat, with one telling him, “Whatever it is you’re going through, we can try to figure it out together.”

Newark Public Safety Director Anthony F. Ambrose said Barbosa distracted the teen by talking to him, giving Johnson the opportunity to grab him and pull him off the ledge. The teen was taken to University Hospital for evaluation.

“I commend Sergeant Barbosa and Officer Johnson for taking the initiative to immediately devise a plan of action that saved this boy’s life,” Ambrose said. “Preservation of a life is always our goal, but it’s clear that these officers exercised exceptional compassion and the care needed to ensure that this frightening scenario had a positive ending."

Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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