The Berkeley Police Department and UCPD responded Wednesday to a 40-year-old man who climbed onto a ledge at Memorial Stadium and remained there into the night.
Around 4:28 p.m., according to BPD spokesperson Officer Byron White, BPD received notice that a man was nude and behaving inappropriately near Hillside Avenue and Prospect Street. A witness reported that the man had moved to a residence on Warring Street’s 2300 block as officers were going to the scene.
When officers approached the man, he ran away, eventually climbing a wall onto a ledge at the top of a beverage tent at Memorial Stadium, said White. White added the ledge was between 30 and 40 feet off the ground. At approximately 5 p.m., UCPD joined the BPD and the Berkeley Fire Department to respond to the incident, according to UCPD Lt. Sabrina Reich.
When the man refused to speak with officers or descend, Crisis Intervention Team-trained officers and negotiator-trained officers tried to speak with the man.
After he continued to refuse negotiation, BPD officers left the scene at 7:50 p.m, White said. According to Reich, though BPD officers left the scene, UCPD continued to observe the man from a distance overnight.
Eventually, as he moved away from the ledge, UCPD officers detained the man for a psychiatric hold assessment, Reich said, and transported him to a hospital for medical clearance.
The subject was subsequently arrested and booked on charges of felony vandalism, manual pull of a fire alarm panel and resisting and delaying a peace officer, according to Reich.
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