Posted on 05/27/2005 11:54:14 AM PDT by El Conservador
ATLANTA - A homicide suspect remained perched on an 18-story construction crane for a third day Friday, holding police at bay and causing a spectacle in the heart of the city's entertainment district.
A plea from his sister, offers of food and a plan to have him jump onto air bags hadn't resolved the standoff.
The man, identified as Carl Edward Roland, got onto the crane around 5 p.m. Wednesday and told police he was thinking of killing himself by jumping, police spokesman Sgt. John Quigley said.
"When he's ready to come down, he'll come down — one way or the other," Quigley said. "The protocol for them is to let him make the decisions."
Roland is wanted by the Pinellas County, Fla., sheriff's department in the death of ex-girlfriend Jennifer L. Gonzalez, 36. Her body was found Tuesday in a pond behind the apartment complex where she lived.
Authorities had said Thursday that Roland had talked to negotiators but refused food and water. Quigley said he didn't know if he had accepted anything since then.
Since March, the 41-year-old Clearwater, Fla., man had quit his job as a computer software salesman, filed for bankruptcy with just $40 in the bank and talked about moving to Las Vegas, the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times reported Friday. He had also talked about getting back together with Gonzalez.
The standoff was unfolding high above Atlanta's busy Buckhead neighborhood, an area filled with clubs and restaurants. Lunch and dinner crowds, taking advantage of summer-like weather, have packed restaurant patios with clear views of the standoff.
Dozens of people — from construction workers to shopkeepers to restaurant employees — watched Friday from sidewalks as police continued to try to coax Roland into coming down.
Authorities closed some streets under the crane, including Peachtree Road, one of the city's main thoroughfares. The closure led to traffic delays throughout the area.
Vernard Swindle, 29, laid off from his job stocking groceries, took a bus from his home three miles away Friday to see what was going on. He was still there two hours later.
"I'm wondering what's going on in his head to stay up there more than 36 hours with no food or water," Swindle said.
On Thursday, police called Roland's younger sister, Towana, who lives in Atlanta. She said she hadn't seen him in years and hadn't realized he was in town.
She was not allowed to go up the crane, so she borrowed a mirror and tried to get his attention by flashing sunlight and shouting "Sugarfoot, it's your baby sister!"
Also Thursday, the fire department set up large air bags on the roof of the condominium building under construction, with the thought that they could swing the arm of the crane in that direction and persuade Roland to jump, said Atlanta police Lt. F.J. Zunno. The fall to the bags would be about 90 feet.
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Associated Press Writer Harry R. Weber in Atlanta contributed to this report.
I would pay cash money to see Dave Chappelle talk to this guy. Especially if he dressed up like Rick James, b****.
Will someone please give the murderer a magnifying glass and Helen Thomas! Let's get this over with!!!
Didn't they report earluer that he was armed? Has that been confirmed?
Can we start a pool here?..Guess the time he touches ground, one way or the other...Closest to the actual result, over or under, wins..I say 2.45 am Sat morning...he's dehydrated..he'll fall asleep and lose his grip..OOPS..
Where's that David Blaine guy when you need him?
Let her go up. Gee, it might actually work. Or is this another incident where the government knows better than family how to solve problems?
I'll go in on the pool...I say noon Sunday.
He's got two big problems.Time and Gravity.
Looks like it was around 12:30am Saturday, but nevermind him. I wanted to find more info on this woman he killed. Part of her story here ~ Murder suspect found - but he's 25 stories up
Hardworking woman working to support her children. Shame she ever met this loser. RIP.
Why would you shoot someone who's in no position to pose a threat, and in no position to escape? All the police have to do is wait, and they'll have him one way or another. I can't see any justification for deadly force.
Actually, it's sort of humorous that Atlanta is stock-still because some idiot won't come down off a crane. What the hell are the POleece waitin' for.
I know the south has it's own slooooooow pace, but this is really pushin' it!
Because I'm sick of pains in the ass who do nothing but give us trouble. Even if he's not guilty of the crime he's being charged with, he IS guilty of being a general pain in the ass. I'm sick of coddling these people. Frankly he probably IS guilty, most people accused of crime actually ARE guilty. So the hell with him. I know the cops won't shoot him, but I can dream, can't I?
" In Washington, where he worked for US Bank, he married, but only briefly, said his former father-in-law. He was too emotional to finish a song he sang to his bride, Jean Marie Noble, in front of their 150 wedding guests in Seattle.
Almost immediately after the wedding, however, Roland began staying out late and coming home drunk, something he didn't do in the year they dated. Six weeks into the marriage, Norm Noble got a phone call from his new son-in-law at 12:30 a.m.
He said, "Come get your daughter. She bothers me,"' said Noble, who lives in Redmond, Wash. "And I got over there to the apartment, which was close by, and found my daughter in her pajamas sitting on the stairs leading to the second-floor apartment."
Ladies, stay away from narcissis ragers who have serious control issues. The BTK serial killer, Scott Peterson et al all have the same pattern of severe control issues. Dangerous people who are ticking time bombs.
They got him down this morning, used a cup of water and a Taser.
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Hopefully his finger was in the cup of water when he got tazed
Tell the guy: "Go ahead and jump, no one gives a rats ass what you do. "
Then clear the area completely so he sees that he is not getting any attention.
I wish, but no, they let him tie up one of the busiest streets in Atlanta for 2 days.
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