Man spends night in 80-foot tree in downtown Seattle, builds makeshift nest
A man who climbed an 80-foot tree outside the downtown Seattle Macy’s Tuesday morning stayed there overnight and continued to rebuff police negotiators.
“We’re in a holding pattern. We want to maintain his safety,” said Seattle police Lt. David Drain.
Drain said the man had arranged branches torn from the tree to sit on. He was not sure if the man had slept. Police continued to talk with the man from the window of the Macy’s building adjacent to the tree.
Some nearby downtown streets were blocked early Wednesday, but started to open back up just after 6 a.m. Northbound Sound Transit Express routes 510/512 and 511/513 were rerouted, missing stops at Fourth Avenue and Pike Street and at Sixth Avenue and Olive Way.
Several onlookers expressed the same sentiment: “He’s still up there?”
Ted Jansen stopped to watch Tuesday, thinking at first that the helicopters he’d seen overhead were there because of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s visit to town. He said he returned early Wednesday, surprised that the man had endured through the night.
“We can’t spread out the trampolines and get out the tranquilizer gun as if he’s a bear … We’ll just have to wait him out,” Jansen said.
John Killorin, who was visiting from Denver, said he learned of the man in the tree from a hotel worker. His Ride the Ducks tour was diverted Tuesday, he said.
Killorin on Wednesday morning said he felt bad for “these poor police officers wasting their time.”
“I think he’s just going to climb down. Hopefully, he’s not too tired to do so. Can you imagine hanging up there?”
At one point Wednesday morning, the man yelled from the treetop: “How much taxpayer money are you wasting? It’s not an emergency!”
Evan Bush: 206-464-2253 or ebush@seattletimes.com. On Twitter @evanbush
This story was originally published March 22, 2016 at 2:22 PM with the headline "Man spends night in 80-foot tree in downtown Seattle, builds makeshift nest."