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Parachutist Gets Caught on Arm of Statue of Liberty
A French man who planned to parachute onto the Statue of Liberty's torch and then bungee jump from it became snagged on the statue's gilded flame and had to be rescued by police Thursday.
Thierry Devaux, 41, a native of the popular French skiing region Chamonix, was wearing a Statue of Liberty T-shirt and had numerous decals decrying the use of land mines when his chute was snared on the statue more than 300 feet in the air. The bizarre scene left hundreds of early morning tourists, already lined up to climb the 22-story monument, shaking their heads in disbelief.
Five police officers on a narrow deck surrounding the flame pulled the man to safety during a 30-minute rescue effort that ended around 10 a.m. The man, police said, didn't bother to say thank you.
Devaux faces federal charges and was taken to the U.S. courthouse in lower Manhattan Thursday afternoon to face arraignment. Among the charges to be filed were trespassing, disorderly conduct and illegal air delivery, said Maj. Tom Wilkins, a U.S. Park Police commander.
This was Devaux's second arrest at the Statue of Liberty. In June 1994, police said, he was arrested on charges that he hid in the statue overnight and defaced the structure.
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