 BOULDER, Colo. -- A 22-year-old man was killed early Tuesday morning when he swung from a large crane and hit a building. According to University of Colorado police, the accident happened about 3:13 a.m. in the area of 18th Street and Colorado Avenue. Police said the victim, Ryan Young, and another man climbed a construction crane at the CU-Boulder ATLAS Building site and attached climbing ropes to it, then swung from the giant machine. | "Weeeee! Watch me do this!" |
Young was killed when he hit the side of the CU power plant building on 18th Street. Police said a wind gust might have contributed to the accident. The second man climbed down from the crane and cut his friend loose.
Two people who happened to be in the area saw the accident and called police. They say that Young and his friend appeared to be technical climbers who knew what they were doing. | I think the evidence refutes that |
"They had all the gear," said witness Logan Nahmias. He was taking a late study break with a friend when they saw that two men had climbed more than 10 stories on the crane. "So we heard this loud noise like something bouncing off metal," said Nahmias. "Our first instinct was just to look over there, so we did and there was this black silhouette," he said. "It was a silhouette of this guy hanging by a climbing harness. Our first instinct was to get him down, and my buddy was already on the phone to 911."
Nahmias performed CPR but it was too late. Young was taken to Boulder Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. "His friend was in a complete state of shock. You can tell this guy was not happy about what was going on," Nahmias said. "It was supposed to be just an innocent, you know, thrill-seeking thing ... it's nuts but if you know what you're doing, it's a pretty simple process. They just lower straight down. So I guess the guy, he just probably rigged his gear wrong. " |