SEATTLE - Despite more than 20 hours of police coaxing, a man is refusing to leave his perch near the top of an 80-foot tall sequoia tree in downtown Seattle on Wednesday morning.
Authorities were alerted to the unidentified man in the tree around 11 a.m. Tuesday and he was still clinging to its branches at 8 a.m. Wednesday.
"Issue appears to be between the man and the tree," Seattle police tweeted.
Crews brought a ladder truck to the scene, next to the Macy's store at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Stewart Street, after receiving reports about the man stuck in the upper branches of the towering tree, just after 11:30 a.m. Tuesday.
The fire truck's ladder was extended to within a few feet of the man, then negotiators climbed up and tried to speak with him.
So far he has refused to come down, spending the entire night in the treetop.
Earlier, the man threw an apple at medics who came to his rescue. The man was also seen tossing small branches, orange peels, pine cones and other materials at rescuers and claimed to be armed with a knife, Seattle police said. He later requested a pack of Camel Crush cigarettes.
A KOMO news team at the scene said the man appeared agitated, shouting and "flipping the bird" at spectators. Surrounding witnesses questioned the man's mental health, while others speculated he may be high on drugs. He appeared disheveled with a large beard, longer hair and a red knit hat he dropped during the day.
By mid-afternoon Tuesday, the man had stripped the top of the tree bare. He tore the limbs off and hurled them at officers and firefighters. Even as darkness fell Tuesday evening, the man remain perched at the top. He was still there Wednesday morning at 8 a.m.
At one point, the man climbed about halfway down the tree, paused, then climbed all the way back to the top, breaking off new branches during the trip. His behavior alternates between periods of quiet calm and agitated yelling.
A drone zoomed by during the early morning hours, but it quickly left and has not returned.
Police spokesman Patrick Michaud said police want to make sure the man can get down without hurting himself or someone else and added that rushing him could create a dangerous situation. Police have said he appears to be suffering from a crisis.
Meanwhile on the Internet, #ManInTree has gone viral on Twitter becoming a trending hashtag nationwide. An anonymous user even created, and is tweeting from, the Twitter handle "@Man_in_Tree".
The iconic tree was planted at the site in the 1970s and was the focus of an ambitious effort to save it about six years ago after its condition deteriorated. Seattle DOT officials say they will review the health of the tree once the ordeal is over with.
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