A RUSSIAN TOURIST who climbed to the top of the Brooklyn Bridge to take pictures for fun has been charged been charged by authorities in New York.
Yaroslav Kolchin was charged with reckless endangerment, trespassing and disorderly conduct in what was the landmark’s second security breach in a month.
Police said they spotted the 24-year-old ascending a cable at about 12:15 p.m. on Sunday. Authorities say the Moscow man reached the top of the tower, took pictures with his smartphone and was arrested as he descended.
He told police he did it for fun, according to a court complaint.
Prosecutors said his arrest required a “high allocation of resources.” He posed a danger to the high volume of pedestrians gathered who passed beneath him on a warm and sunny Sunday afternoon, they said.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city is launching a “full scale review” of security at the bridge, but assured New Yorkers that they are being kept safe.
“You can hold me accountable and (Police) Commissioner (William) Bratton accountable,” the mayor said. “We are in the process of making changes in the way we protect the bridges that are our responsibility.”
A recent graduate from a Russian university, Kolchin works in advertising, he told his lawyer, Paul Liu, through a Russian translator. He was visiting New York with a tour group, but the group has returned to Russia.
Kolchin was being held on $5,000 bond in Brooklyn and ordered to hand his passport over to prosecutors. Liu told Judge Raymond Rodriguez that Kolchin did not expect to make bail. The attorney declined to comment on the case to reporters.
Kolchin’s next hearing was scheduled for 29 August.
On 22 July, two American flags were swiped from the bridge and replaced with white ones, prompting security concerns. Two German artists took credit for the stunt. Their comments and the case are still being investigated by police, who have not arrested anyone in the flag swap, New York Police Department spokesman Detective James Duffy said in an email.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say