News

A man who climbed an 80-foot sequoia in Seattle Tuesday morning is refusing to come down and is not being cooperative with officers who have tried to coax him to leave his post.

The man climbed the giant tree near 4th Avenue and Stewart and forced traffic to come to a halt around 11 a.m. Hours later, police and fire officials were still trying to get him down from the tree, according to KCPQ-TV.

"Officers arrived at the scene, determined the man posed a danger to himself, pedestrians and motorists, and closed several surrounding streets. Police attempted to contact the man, but he refused to speak with officers," the Seattle Police Department said on its crime blotter.

Authorities said the man wasn’t being cooperative and at one point threw an apple at paramedics.

"During early attempts to contact the man, who appears to be suffering from a mental health crisis, he threw an apple, branches, pine cones and other items at officers on the street below, and claimed to be armed with a knife," police said.

"Due to his violent behavior and threats, and the man’s precarious position high above the ground, police are taking extreme caution to ensure the safety of everyone involved.”

Seattle police spokesman Patrick Michaud said authorities want to make sure them an can get down from the tree without hurting himself or someone else and added that rushing it could lead to a dangerous situation.

"It is quite a spectacle, honestly," police spokesman Michaud told The Seattle Times.

The incident has attracted onlookers and a local TV station has had shown the incident live all day. It's also grown in popularity on social media with new Twitter accounts dedicated to it and the hashtag #manintree trending on Twitter.

Negotiators with assistance from the Seattle Fire Department were on a fire truck ladder still trying to talk the man down from the tree at 6 p.m.

The unidentified man, appearing disheveled with a large beard, longer hair and a red knit hat he dropped during the day, has also ripped multiple branches from the tree and tossed them at the ground and at negotiators, who caught many of them.

Seattle Department of Transportation officials will review the health of the tree, believed to have been there since the 1970s, once the incident is resolved, police said.