DALLAS — A man who spent 24 hours atop a 150-foot crane in Dallas this week, including during heavy rain Tuesday morning, now faces a felony charge, officials said.
Police confirmed shortly before 8 a.m. Tuesday that the man, Paul Jamison, 49, was in custody.
Two days later, on Thursday, police announced that Jamison faces a charge of criminal mischief, a state jail felony, over $20,000 in damages "and inconvenience" to Uperio USA, the business that operates the crane, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
The crane is located in the 1000 block of Singleton Boulevard near the Trinity Groves area of Dallas.
The affidavit said Jamison damaged a seat in the cab of the crane, where he was found taking shelter during heavy rains Tuesday morning.
The affidavit said the crane operator arrived at the top of the crane around 7 a.m. Monday and found Jamison there. The operator then called 911, and police and Dallas Fire-Rescue responded.
Over the next 24 hours, crews waited for Jamison to come down - but he refused, police said.
By Tuesday morning, and after heavy rains and wind in Dallas, officials said Jamison became more cooperative "as the circumstances began to take their toll on him."
Police SWAT officers were initially planning to take Jamison down, but once he became more cooperative - and his condition "began to deteriorate" - firefighters were sent to handle the rescue.
Crews brought Jamison down safely with a harness device, along with a Dallas Fire-Rescue crew member. Wind gusts were causing the boom of the crane to swing, so crews needed additional help from an operator before taking Jamison down.
Jamison was then taken to a hospital for evaluation.
Police said Jamison was found with a self-inflicted cut to his stomach, but the injury was not life-threatening.
At various points Monday, Jamison could be seen walking along the top of the crane, including on cable, and climb to the top railing of the crane.
It remained unclear why he had climbed to the top of the crane.
As police responded to the incident, they kept several blocks of Singleton Boulevard shut down, starting around Sylvan Avenue.
Numerous police vehicles, fire trucks and SWAT vehicles were at the scene throughout the day.