PITTSBURGH — A man was taken into custody at the Gulf Tower, a day after he appeared to have climbed the building in Downtown Pittsburgh.
Only Channel 11 was there Friday afternoon as police took the man into custody outside the tower. Not long afterward, officials confirmed that he and a woman believed to be involved were let go.
“They were cooperative and provided full statements to police at the Downtown Public Safety Center,” a Pittsburgh Public Safety spokesperson says.
This happened a day after a video was posted on Instagram of a person standing at the tower’s peak.
The owner of the Gulf Tower, Larry Walsh, tells Channel 11 that the man is an Instagram influencer who’s known for climbing tall buildings. Thursday was apparently the second time he made his way to the top of the Gulf Tower.
Walsh says the man came back Friday because he forgot his coat on the roof and came to get it. An employee reportedly recognized the man and stalled him until police arrived and took him away in a cruiser.
However, that man has been in touch with our newsroom and told us police have already let him go before he was ever booked into jail.
Our crews also saw a woman, believed to be an accomplice, taken away in handcuffs.
Walsh says that, two years ago, the same man broke into the Gulf Tower and went to the roof, but police didn’t catch him.
The climber, Austin Seik, spoke exclusively with Channel 11 on Friday. We asked him if he plans to keep climbing after this incident.
“It’s not worth the cuffs,” he said. “It’s not worth the heartache to my friends, my family. If one slip happens, that’s it.”
There are also videos on Seik’s Instagram account of him on the roof of the UPMC building and several Pittsburgh bridges. We showed these videos to people Downtown.
“It’s not going to stop him. They’re going to keep doing it,” avid climber Scott Dyer said. “They do it for the rush, the thrill, the adrenaline, like you mentioned.”
“That’s insane. You couldn’t pay me to do that. Not at all,” said Katelyn Pryor, who works Downtown.
Walsh says he intends to press charges, not because he wants to ruin Seik’s life, but because he doesn’t want him to hurt himself or anyone else.
Pittsburgh police have not confirmed any charges at this point.
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