Tenn. man who climbed Brooklyn Bridge, took selfie is arrested
NEW YORK -- A college student from Tennessee who found his way onto an unauthorized area of the Brooklyn Bridge and took a selfie in June has been arrested in his home state, according to the Hamilton County, Tennessee Sheriff's Office, reports CBS New York.
Police said his actions were "irresponsible and illegal," reports the station.
David Karnauch of Tennessee told CBS New York he walked across an overhead beam on the bridge and took the selfie while standing on a side railing.
Karnauch, of Chattanooga, told CBS New York via Skype in July that no one there stopped him.
"I mean, there were two cops in the beginning, at the end of the bridge but they just sit there," Karnauch said. "There was no one in the middle."
Karnauch was arrested Aug. 17 in Chattanooga and held as a fugitive of New York. The charge is reckless endangerment, and he is being held in Tennessee without bond, reports WRCB. His next court date is listed as Aug. 31.
In a July statement to CBS New York, NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counter-terrorism John Miller said Karnauch's actions did not constitute a "security breach," but were still ill-advised and forbidden.
"The person most endangered was the individual, whose goal seems to be bringing attention to himself," Miller said in the statement. "It was however, irresponsible and illegal. Had the officers patrolling the bridge arrived while he was there, he would have been arrested, as others have been."
The Brooklyn Bridge has been the subject of several high-profile trespassing incidents in the past year, which led to the New York City Department of Transportation to install new barriers to prevent people from climbing to the top of the span.