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United Kingdom

French 'Spider-Man' arrested after scaling London's Heron Tower

By Ryan Gaydos Fox News
Published | Updated
Alain Robert, an urban climber dubbed the "French Spider-Man," completes his climb of the outside of Heron Tower building in the City of London, Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018.

Alain Robert, an urban climber dubbed the "French Spider-Man," completes his climb of the outside of Heron Tower building in the City of London, Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

A daredevil dubbed the “French Spider-Man” climbed the Heron Tower building in the city of London on Thursday.

Alain Robert, 56, took about an hour to scale the 754-foot tower, according to Sky News. He’s previously been able to climb the Burj Khalifa in Dubai and the Empire State Building in New York City.

“I'm not crazy,” he told Sky News before his climb. “What I'm doing may seem crazy, but I'm not that crazy.”

He told the news network his goal was to get to the top and “stay alive.”

Urban climber dubbed the French Spiderman, Alain Robert scales the outside of Heron Tower building in the City of London.

Urban climber dubbed the French Spiderman, Alain Robert scales the outside of Heron Tower building in the City of London. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Robert said he only thought of climbing the Heron Tower, which is home to several businesses, restaurants and bars, after seeing photos of the skyscraper two days ago. He said he also considered climbing the Walkie-Talkie Building tower or The Leadenhall Building.

He decided to climb the Heron Tower after determining it seemed “doable.” He said the climb didn’t seem “ridiculous,” but “not easy.”

Robert was arrested after the stunt, Euro News reported. London police confirmed they arrested a 56-year-old man, but didn’t release the man’s name.

Robert earned his nickname for free solo climbing dozens of world skyscrapers without the aid of equipment. Most notably, he scaled the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 1997 but was apprehended before reaching the top. He also climbed the Willis Tower in Chicago in 1999 and the New York Times building in Manhattan in 2008.