Man who hurled furniture from 20th floor of NYC building has history of mental illness: family

The man who launched a lawn chair and other patio furniture off a 20-story Midtown Manhattan highrise Monday was in the midst of a delusional, paranoid crisis two days before the bizarre, caught-on-camera episode, his brother told The Post.

On Saturday night, Jean Bernard Olivier, 51, received a phone call from his younger brother and the accused furniture-thrower, Jean Luke Olivier, 33, who told his sibling, “People are trying to kill me.”

“I told him he needed to go see a doctor, he needed psychiatric help,” said Bernard, who learned about Luke’s arrest from The Post.

Jean Luke Olivier pleaded not guilty, and was released without bail by a Manhattan judge on Tuesday.  Citizens App

Olivier’s brother told him he “needed psychiatric help.” New York Post

It wasn’t the first time Luke displayed manic behavior, according to his older brother.

Luke moved from his native Haiti to live with Bernard in Miami in early 2023 — but was kicked out of the home in the winter because of “anger” issues, he said.

“He had some trouble with my wife, my daughter … They were arguing,” Bernard recalled. “When I got home from work one day, I told him he had to leave.

He said Luke first moved to Arkansas to live with a girlfriend, then relocated to the Big Apple after the two broke up. 

“From the way he’s been acting” since arriving in the US, “I think he has mental problems,” Bernard said. 

Luke visited the Consulate General of Haiti at of 555 Fifth Ave. before allegedly flipping out, according to police sources.

Olivier told his brother, “People are trying to kill me” on Saturday night. New York Post

He was arrested and slapped with felony reckless endangerment and criminal mischief charges. 

He pleaded not guilty, and was released without bail by a Manhattan judge on Tuesday. 

Luke could not be reached for comment.

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