Jeez, I didn’t know holding up traffic was a capitial offense.
Jeez, I didn’t know holding up traffic was a capitial offense.
I was talking about the crane climber – that was the topic of the main thread…
I am going back to the hottie thread too – ya’ll are to high strung – ya’ll need to cut back on the coffee and testosterone shots.
to the 98% of you who smiled at my joke - I’ll post something good in the hottie thread – for the 2% who just got pissed off and want to flame me – kiss my ass and get a life.
Sorry for the confusion…but you did quote a reference to the bridge jumper guy which was kinda confusing.
I’m not going back to the hottie thread until someon gets some better shots of Heather Locklear.
This guy’s way ahead of you, Monk:
On Friday morning, police began moving a large bucket used for carrying concrete along the crane’s arm apparently to match Roland’s movements. When he moved, the bucket underneath him would follow.
The bucket contained a loud siren, perhaps an effort to keep the man from falling asleep.
Roland moved back and forth along the arm of the crane and appeared to be working on electric cables. He periodically would tie and untie himself to the crane, and he also appeared to be kicking lights on the arm.
Roland spent most of Thursday night lying on a metal grate on the crane’s arm, some 350 feet in the air.
The cops’ plan is almost as lame. A siren in a moving concrete bucket? Wouldn’t that just drive the guy insane and make him want to jump? Why don’t they just all go away and pretend they aren’t there. Eventually, he will either come down, starve, fall asleep or jump. I don’t see why they have to have the whole friggin’ PD down there snarling up traffic all over the city. Either that or get a sniper to bust a tranquilizer dart in his ass.
Sorry for the confusion…but you did quote a reference to the bridge jumper guy which was kinda confusing.
I’m not going back to the hottie thread until someon gets some better shots of Heather Locklear.
Heather Locklear is now posted on the hottie thread
So, is this doofus still up on the crane? He’s definitely wading in the shallow end of the gene pool…
T.
Crane Spectacle Ends In Buckhead
Police Climb Structure, Taser Suspect
POSTED: 1:43 p.m. EDT May 27, 2005
BUCKHEAD – A homicide suspect who spent 56 hours perched on an 18-story construction crane in Buckhead was in custody early Saturday after police climbed the structure and used a Taser gun to subdue and arrest him.
Police shocked him with the stun gun as he reached for a cup of water. “Apparently, he was thirsty,” police spokesman Sgt. John Quigley said.
Officers made their move around 12:30 a.m. Atlanta Assistant Police Chief Alan Dreher said police got the crane climber in a position to “effectively use the Taser.”
“The SWAT officers basically got the suspect in custody, and got him to where he was manageable and safe for us to deal with,” said Battalion Chief Chris Wessels of the Atlanta Fire Department, which coordinated the precarious rescue effort. “Our rope rescue team got him packaged for his safety in a stretcher device, and we were able to hook our ropes to him and lower him down to the ground, at which time some of our EMTs checked him out and transported him over to Grady.”
The man, identified as Carl Edward Roland, 41, was being treated for dehydration and exposure after having spent more than two days in the sun without food or water. He reportedly was not hurt in the arrest.
“I’m just glad that he’s down and that he didn’t get hurt or anything like that,” said Roland’s sister Tiwana Allen. “I’m happy – I’m satisfied now.”
Roland eventually will be taken to the Fulton County Jail, where investigators from Florida plan to interview him about the homicide charges looming against him in the St. Petersburg area.
Roland is wanted by the Pinellas County, Fla., sheriff’s department in the death of his ex-girlfriend Jennifer L. Gonzalez, 36, whose body was found Tuesday. Investigators said in a written statement that witnesses told police that Roland was seen with the victim shortly before she was killed.
Other witnesses told police that the suspect had allegedly threatened the woman in the days before she was murdered, investigators said.
Florida detectives believe she died of upper body trauma but would not disclose how the woman was killed or if a weapon was found at the scene said Mac McMullen, spokesman for the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.
An arrest warrant affidavit accuses Roland of strangling Gonzalez and dumping her body in a pond behind the apartment complex where she lived.
The part of Peachtree Road between Bolling Way south to Buckhead Avenue was closed in both directions during the standoff. Roland climbed to the top of the crane during the start of Wednesday evening’s rush hour. The spectacle effectively held part of Buckhead hostage, bringing traffic and business to a standstill as gawkers craned their heads skyward.
Buckhead was already dealing with gridlock problems as crews worked to fix a broken pipe a few blocks down the road. The crane incident made an inconvenient situation even less bearable.
“I think could have done a little bit better,” said Andria Francis, a Buckhead resident. “A lot of people who work in this area lost wages, and it may have inconvenienced people like me who live in the area.”
Allen said if police had let her talk to her brother, the whole incident could have ended sooner and minimized the impact on Buckhead businesses.
“I feel it would have been over with if they’d just let me talk to him,” she said. “He would have come down knowing that his sister – his baby sister – is here.”
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the big crane is being used in the Trammell Crow Company’s construction of the 19-story Ovation condominium, part of the Buckhead Plaza complex at the southwest corner of Peachtree and West Paces Ferry roads.
During the standoff, Roland walked along the crane, sat on it and reclined on it while negotiators tried to get him to calm down and talk him out of suicide threats.
At one point, he apparently threw his wallet down to police.
“It was his ID and his credit card and library card that he was throwing down,” said Chris Voisey, who is visiting from Los Angeles and was eating at a restaurant as the event began unfolding. “They actually landed on Peachtree Street.”
Friday, police used loud music and a helicopter to keep Roland from getting too comfortable. They also followed his movements with a large construction bucket that could have caught him had he fallen – or jumped.
My favorite part was how the police got an engineer to mark big orange X’s on Peachtree Rd, in the approximate places where said jumper might splatter.
A copycat crane climber got up on another one Monday night. Police lured him down on Tuesday morning with cigarettes and donuts. Apparently he did not have the strength of will the first guy had.