Judge: Russian Tourist Accused Of Climbing Brooklyn Bridge Should Clean It
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The Russian tourist accused of climbing the Brooklyn Bridge to take pictures with his cell phone was back in court Friday.
After spending a week behind bars, 24-year-old Yaroslav Kolchin stood silent before the judge as the prosecutor offered him a deal that involved 90 days in jail, WCBS 880's Irene Cornell reported.
The prosecutor argued that Kolchin's stunt caused a scare and cost the NYPD $7,407 to deploy man power, a helicopter and vessels to get him down, Cornell reported.
But Judge ShawnDya L. Simpson did not like the idea jail time and ordered the prosecutor to "work it out."
"This young man has no record," Simpson said. "It may not have been the smartest thing to do, but malicious? I don't think so."
"Come up with some community service," she told the prosecutor. "If he likes the Brooklyn Bridge so much, let him clean the bridge. I don't know, work it out."
Kolchin was arrested Sunday after he climbed a cable beam on the Brooklyn side of the bridge and reached the top of the tower, police said.
Kolchin was seen walking back and forth on the landing, taking photos with his iPhone, police said. They said once a police aviation unit was hovering at an altitude next to the tower, Kolchin began to descend safely down the same way he had climbed up.
Kolchin was met by police at the security gate, where he was taken into custody without further incident.
Kolchin, who was visiting the city from Moscow, is charged with reckless endangerment, criminal trespass and other charges.
Police won't explain how Kolchin managed to climb the bridge initially unnoticed. According to a criminal complaint, Kolchin told police he did it for fun.
Kolchin is an apparent thrill seeker, CBS 2's Weijia Jiang reported. Photos from a Facebook page under Kolchin's name show him recently posing at the Grand Canyon and at the Willis Tower – formerly the Sears Tower – in Chicago.
In the wake of the incident, Mayor de Blasio ordered the NYPD to review security on all of the city's bridges and make changes as soon as possible.
The incident was the third security breach at a New York City bridge in just over a month.
On July 22, two American flags on the Brooklyn Bridge's towers were replaced with whitewashed versions of Old Glory. Two German artists have claimed responsibility.
Last week, an activist group unfurled a Palestinian flag on the span of the Manhattan Bridge.
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