Police: French Tourist Charged After Scaling Brooklyn Bridge
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) - Police say a French tourist was taken into custody after climbing the Brooklyn Bridge to take photos.
The man climbed over a fence on the pedestrian walkway just after noon Sunday to reach a cable beam connected to the tower on the Manhattan-bound side.
The Brooklyn's District Attorney told WCBS 880 the tourist has been identified as 23-year-old Yonathan Souid.
According to police, Souid has been charged with felony reckless endangerment and misdemeanor criminal trespassing.
As CBS2's Matt Kozar reported, Souid said nothing as police escorted him out of the 84th precinct in downtown Brooklyn.
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams spoke with WCBS 880, and said he is supporting legislation proposed by Sen. Dan Squadron to include jail time for trespassing on a New York City landmark.
"Penalties should be tougher and that ensures tourists spend time in one of our greatest landmarks: Rikers Island" Adams told WCBS 880.
Police: French Tourist Charged After Scaling Brooklyn Bridge
"It's not that safe," tourist Lydia Weldai said.
The daredevil feat comes several months after two German artists scaled both towers of the Brooklyn Bridge and switched the American flags for white flags.
When members of the Emergency Service Unit went to the top of the bridge later in the morning to document the scene, they found two 20-foot by 11-foot flags on each tower, which appeared to be American flags with stars and stripes that had been bleached white.
Police also found large aluminum pans that had been affixed with zip-ties to cover up the lights that normally illuminate the flags.
Emergency Services officers took down the rogue flags by 11 a.m. Crowds gathered on the bridge and nearby sidewalks to watch as the officers climbed the cables to take them down from the towers.
In August, a Russian tourist was arrested after ascending a cable to the top of one of the towers.
"They've got to figure out ways to keep people from being able to climb up it. Policing to me is just ridiculous if there's just a bunch of cops standing around all the time and they're not really doing anything. Since this is the third time, obviously them not doing anything isn't working," one man named Chad told 1010 WINS' Roger Stern when asked about how police should secure the bridge.
The NYPD has not responded to CBS2's request for comment about security on the bridge.
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*CHARGED WITH RECKLESS ENDANGERMENT, FELONY AND CRIMINAL TRESPASSING.
