Naked man atop Fort Worth billboard comes down
By Bill Miller
wmiller@star-telegram.com
FORT WORTH -- A looming rain storm late Monday afternoon helped police negotiators do what had eluded them for nearly four hours: coax a naked man from atop a billboard just west of the downtown area.
Officers at about 3:30 p.m. told the man they called James, who appeared to be in his early 20s, that rain was coming.
As clouds darkened overhead, the man, who had alternately trudged or crawled across the top of the billboard, finally slid down the structure's ladder.
Police handcuffed the man, whose full name was not immediately available, and put a pair of black shorts on him. Then they drove away with him in a patrol car.
About 30 minutes later, fierce winds and rain blanketed downtown.
The man's stepfather told reporters: "We're grateful to the police negotiators and the power of prayer."
Police had talked with the man for hours at the two-sided billboard on West Seventh Street, across from Trinity Park. He repeatedly threatened to jump.
The incident began about 11 a.m. and caused a traffic jam for drivers trying to enter downtown from the west or drive east toward the Montgomery Plaza Shopping Center.
It was unclear what had agitated the man to scale the billboard in the nude.
Also unclear was how he reached the top. The bottom of the ladder, which leads to a catwalk at the bottom of the billboard, was suspended about 12 feet from the ground.
Click on the link for the full article