A Houston SWAT team had to rescue a man who hijacked a construction crane on Friday morning.
An unidentified man jumped the fence at a downtown Houston construction site around 3 a.m. and climbed up 15 stories (about 200 feet) to get into the crane's cab. Once inside, the man started operating the crane.
Construction workers at the scene cut power to the crane so the suspect could no longer move it. Even with the crane dead, it still took hours for the man to come down.
Houston Police Department tried to radio the suspect, but he wouldn't respond, KTRK reported. Then police flew a drone to get a better look at what the man was doing.
Around 6 a.m. SWAT officers climbed to the top of the crane and were able to make contact with the man.
Authorities say the man was apprehensive about climbing down so they had to strap in into a safety harness and allow him to take breaks.
Once on the ground, police were able to take the man into custody. He'll likely be charged with trespassing.
Police said the man couldn't remember breaking into the construction site and into the crane.
"We do believe that drugs played a role. We're not sure how much they played a role," Houston Police Commander Johnson said.
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