Man who scaled Gulf Tower in Pittsburgh charged with criminal trespass, arrest warrant issued

PITTSBURGH — A man who scaled the Gulf Tower in Downtown Pittsburgh has now been criminally charged.

Channel 11 spoke exclusively with Austin Seik after police took him into custody and then released him Friday at the Gulf Tower. The day before, he’d climbed to the tower’s peak and posted videos of it on social media.

But on Saturday, the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police announced that Downtown Public Safety Center officers had obtained arrest warrants for Seik and a woman, alleging they “gained illegal access” to the tower.

Seik, 27, of Hookstown, and Mariah Lynn Barnes, 33, of Munhall, are charged with criminal trespass, police say.

According to the criminal complaint, police say Seik confessed to entering the Gulf Tower with Barnes on Thursday by using a paint scraper to get through the locked doors on Grant Street.

Police say it appears Seik made a hole through a wire fence in a restricted area of the building’s 38th floor to get to additional floors.

Seik and Barnes allegedly confessed to entering restricted areas of the building and acknowledged that doing so was a crime, the complaint says.

Only our cameras were rolling as Seik and Barnes were put in handcuffs and led to a police cruiser Friday outside the Gulf Tower.

A Pittsburgh Public Safety spokesperson later told us the pair had been released after being “cooperative and provided full statements to police.”

During our exclusive talk with Seik, he told us he believes he is “done” with climbing after this incident.

After he climbed it on Thursday, Seik and Barnes reportedly went back to the Gulf Tower on Friday to retrieve a jacket that they’d left. That’s when building employees recognized Seik and stalled him until police arrived.

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