Man who refused to get down from crane arrested after six-and-a-half hour stand-off

A man has been charged with trespass and possessing drugs after climbing a high-rise crane in Brisbane, Australia, in the early hours of Sunday morning and refusing to come down for six-and-a-half hours.



The 21-year-old Hervey Bay man, who entered the Woolloongabba work site at about 4:30am, was at times seen making obscene gestures and hanging off the crane. He continually said: "Keep f*cking climbing" as he evaded one rescue attempt. A street was closed in both directions as Queensland Police and Emergency Services tried to coax the man down.




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Negotiators climbed the crane at about 10:15am and the man came down 45 minutes later. Queensland Police on Sunday afternoon charged the man with trespass, wilful damage, unauthorised high-risk activity, obstruct police and possessing dangerous drugs. Acting Inspector Kevin Fitzgibbon said the man had risked his life.



"It appears he was out with family and friends in the City and Valley [Fortitude Valley] overnight, they have lost contact with him and [we] received a call at 4.30 in the morning saying he had scaled this structure," he said. "He was undertaking some fairly risky behaviour, climbing between wires and different parts of the structure."