Authorities Confounded by Man Who Refuses to Come Down From Tree

A man has been in a tree and refusing to come down for more than six hours in Long Beach as police and firefighters stand by at the scene, authorities said today.

Witnesses reported seeing the unidentified adult male hanging in the tree’s branches at Third Street and Orange Avenue about 11 a.m., Sgt. Megan Zabel of the Long Beach Police Department said.

It’s unknown if the man is mentally ill or under the influence of drugs, but he has refused to identify himself to officers at the scene and requests to come down, she said.

A member of the department’s mental evaluation team who spoke with the man determined he was not a danger to himself, Zabel said.

The man in the tree also is not wanted for any crimes and hasn’t broken any laws, she said.

“We don’t have any probable cause to believe that’s the case at this point in time,” Zabel said.

Los Angeles County firefighters brought a jump bag to the scene for the man to safely jump onto, but the safety platform is now being removed, the sergeant said.

Zabel said officers will maintain a low key standby at the scene until the man comes down from the tree and she does not know if he would simply be allowed to walk away or be held for evaluation.

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• City News Service

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