NYC Conman Threatens To Jump From High Rise Window After FBI Brings Search Warrant

When the FBI tried to serve a search warrant on a slick New York City con man who once allegedly pretended to be the scion of a prosperous Jamaican family, the man allegedly threatened to jump from a 20th-floor window of a Manhattan skyscraper, according to police sources.

Around 8:40 a.m., Ian Mitchell, 35, who officials claim started the shady scheme back in 2015, allegedly broke a window inside an apartment inside the 72-story CitySpire condominium building and tried to climb out.

Mitchell can be seen on the scene's video with his legs hanging out the window while onlookers and filmmakers are outside.

One image shows him sitting in the window frame with the glass broken around him, his upper torso covered in a white curtain or sheet.

He looks to be dressed in black pants and a black T-shirt.

Police can be heard ordering onlookers on the sidewalk to move down the street or inside the building.

According to the sources, the Emergency Services Unit of the NYPD responded and was trying to speak with the man. He did not hold any weapons that were known to him.

A few hours later, by 1:00 p.m., Mitchell had escaped through the window and returned to the flat, where he had barricaded himself.

According to police sources, Mitchell's partner owns the CitySprire condo.

She fled the apartment and is currently in the hallway with the FBI, police, and a hostage negotiation team.

According to reports, Mitchell is speaking with police but is remaining near the edge.

Every time he comes close to the broken window, glass spills from the 31st story to the ground below.

The barricaded man has repeatedly told officials, "I'll jump" each time he thinks they are moving in on the apartment, reports New York Post.

Mayor Eric Adams had arrived by around 2 p.m.

"The NYPD is patient. They are doing their job. That's why they are the finest," Hizzoner said. "They are patient. Our hostage negotiation team is the best in the business, and we are going to do everything possible to bring this to a conclusion."

The standoff finally ended around 5 p.m. when an NYPD Emergency Service Unit officer rappelled the outside of the 72-story skyscraper and climbed into the suicidal man's condominium.

From the apartment above Mitchell's 31st-floor residence, the stealthy officer descended a rope.

As the descending officer climbed the building and leaped through the already-broken window, where Mitchell was hanging on the ledge, another ESU officer steadied the rope.

The officer punched the startled man, shoving him securely inside, and then followed him into the apartment.

In the hours before the NYPD's breakthrough, Mitchell had been speaking with a group of hostage negotiators and officers from the NYPD and FBI who were stationed in the corridor right outside Mitchell's front door.

A white cloth was placed over Mitchell before he was led outside. He was placed in a vehicle and driven to a hospital for a mental health assessment.

However, a spokesman would only state that "we are conducting a law enforcement operation pursuant to an ongoing investigation." Sources claimed that the FBI was executing an arrest warrant for a "white-collar crime."

Authorities told The Post in 2019 that Mitchell misrepresented himself as "Ian Matalon," a relative of the rich Jamaican businessman Joseph Matalon, and claimed to be an investment banker.

Three victims, including an Air Force veteran, were reportedly told by the slick con man in 2015 that they could own a new bar at the Hudson Hotel on West 58th Street if they paid $33,000 for a liquor license.

According to Manhattan prosecutors, Mitchell spent the money on personal expenditures and had no connection to any of the upscale hotel's bars.

The majority of his life savings, $15,000, were given by the Air Force veteran, who requested that The Post not use his identity.

The businessman Humberto Romero of Yellowstone Medical Management Inc., whom officials claim Mitchell defrauded of more than $158,000 beginning in 2016, was Mitchell's most lucrative target.

Romero was informed by Mitchell that he managed INC Capital, a multimillion-dollar hedge fund, and that investing in the fictitious business and other endeavors would yield substantial returns.

"Ian discussed many times when we were together that he had clients that invested in the millions," Romero, 45, wrote in an affidavit obtained by The Post at the time. "He was very persuasive."

Romero attempted to withdraw his money, and Mitchell went dark. Romero called the police after discovering that he was using his real identity and that the hedge fund had never existed.

According to Suffolk County prosecutors, Mitchell used Romero's money to pay off credit cards, school debts, gym dues, and a car lease.

At the time, "Mr. Mitchell has taken responsibility and has tried to make good on his financial commitments," his attorney Todd Spodek told The Post.

After Mitchell failed to show up in court on Jan. 31, 2020, a judge issued a bench warrant and the Manhattan District Attorney's office reported that Mitchell has "two open matters" with them.

Mitchell was reportedly seen by a neighbor named Bahman, 63, in the elevator as he was ascending to his own home.

"He lives on the 31st [floor]. I live on the 40th," Bahman said. "I see him sometimes in the elevator going up and down. I've never spoken to him. I just see him coming and going."

"He was alone all the time" and always well-dressed, Bahman said.

"Of course, I'm shaken. I didn't know I live next to a criminal," he added. "I saw him on Sunday. He looked relaxed ... going up and down ... nothing out of the ordinary."

Another man, 69-year-old Behzad, said he was visiting his sister who resides in the CitySpire building and he was visiting her, but he had stepped out for about 20 minutes to buy coffee.

"I'm not that surprised," he added. "To me, it's the stupidest thing he can do. To me, if he is a conman ... you do the crime, do the time ... Nothing is more valuable than life."