Pennsylvania police in hours-long standoff with man standing on top of old blast furnace
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A man has been perched atop an old blast furnace in Pennsylvania, hundreds of feet in the air for more than 17 hours as a police crisis team continues to talk him down on Saturday morning.
The unidentified man reportedly decided to climb up the large furnace in the SteelStacks campus in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on Friday night as people were getting ready to enjoy a free concert. Authorities canceled the show as well as another concert in the nearby ArtsQuest building.
The man has been seen shouting and raising his arms throughout the ongoing negotiations, according to The Morning Call.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The SteelStacks campus where the furnace is located has remained closed and Bethlehem police have asked the public to stay away from the area as emergency personnel works to resolve the situation.
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Bethlehem police Chief, Mark DiLuzio, said officers were called to the area at 6:52 on Friday where they saw the man taking up position on a single steel beam, according to The Morning Call. They asked the public for help in identifying the man on Friday night, but as of now remained unsuccessful.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}DiLuzio said officers tried to climb up the large furnace on Friday, eventually reaching a platform below where they attempted to converse with him.
Concertgoers had assembled on the nearby Levitt Pavilion lawn on Friday, as police walked through the crowd asking them to raise their hand if they knew who the man was.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” said concert attendee Nahum Molina.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}It's not clear why he decided to climb the furnace, but the Morning Call reported the man first appeared to be taking photos until he gained more attention from the crowds around him.
“The more people looked at him, the more animated he became,” bystander Dave Gilfoil told the newspaper.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Photos were taken of the man on Saturday morning attempting to wave off a drone and his movements were reported as being lethargic and slow.
Another man climbed the same furnaces back in 2012, where he told police he did it to get a photo.