LuvBigRip
03-02-2009, 09:26 AM
LOS ANGELES -- A naked man who threatened for seven hours to jump from a cross on top of a two-story church in Mid-City is now facing vandalism charges.
Police and firefighters were called to the West Central Presbyterian Church at 5284 W. Ninth Street around 8:00 a.m. Sunday.
When firefighters arrived, they found the unidentified man threatening to jump from on top of a cross about 10 feet above the roof of the two-story building.
Fire department rescue teams worked for hours to entice the man to come down. The man ranted and, at one point, spread his feces on the cross.
An air cushion was set up and ladders extended to the top of the roof. But Fire officials said the cross itself, which the man apparently climbed onto via a ladder at the back, was too rusty and unstable to allow firefighters to lean any equipment against it.
Fire paramedics and police eventually talked the man into coming down around 3:00 p.m.
La Brea Avenue was closed in the area between Wilshire and Olympic boulevards during the incident.
The church suspended services during the seven hour ordeal.
The man was placed under a 72-hour psychiatric hold, said a police spokesperson.
His motive remains unknown.
http://www.ktla.com/landing_topstories/?Naked-Man-Stages-7-Hour-Protest-Atop-Loc=1&blockID=227411&feedID=1198
Police and firefighters were called to the West Central Presbyterian Church at 5284 W. Ninth Street around 8:00 a.m. Sunday.
When firefighters arrived, they found the unidentified man threatening to jump from on top of a cross about 10 feet above the roof of the two-story building.
Fire department rescue teams worked for hours to entice the man to come down. The man ranted and, at one point, spread his feces on the cross.
An air cushion was set up and ladders extended to the top of the roof. But Fire officials said the cross itself, which the man apparently climbed onto via a ladder at the back, was too rusty and unstable to allow firefighters to lean any equipment against it.
Fire paramedics and police eventually talked the man into coming down around 3:00 p.m.
La Brea Avenue was closed in the area between Wilshire and Olympic boulevards during the incident.
The church suspended services during the seven hour ordeal.
The man was placed under a 72-hour psychiatric hold, said a police spokesperson.
His motive remains unknown.
http://www.ktla.com/landing_topstories/?Naked-Man-Stages-7-Hour-Protest-Atop-Loc=1&blockID=227411&feedID=1198