UPDATE, 1:50 p.m.: Lt. Ryan Peterson of the Arcata Police Department gives our reporter the rundown on this incident and ID’s the subject as Brian Mello, a man with outstanding felony warrants. Audio follows:
PREVIOUSLY:
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UPDATE, 1:40 p.m.: One in custody. For whatever reason the man chose not to take the ladder offered to him, but to scurry down a drainpipe conduit instead.
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UPDATE, 1:20 p.m.: Turning into quite a scene, according to our reporter on the spot. People seem to be settling in for the long haul. The cops just brought in a case of bottled water, and people are lounging around watching the show.
The man on the roof continues to press his case.
“I just want to be left alone. I been beat down numerous times, dude.”
“The reason I’m up on this roof is because one of your officers assaulted me while I was doing legitimate business.”
Meanwhile, Ryan Burns recorded this truly great video interview with local resident Styles James, who witnessed the whole thing.
Onlookers.
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Photo: Ryan Burns
Multiple APD officers are currently posted at a building on the corner of Fifth and G streets in Arcata, attempting to persuade a man who scrambled onto the roof there to come down.
According to Styles James, a witness who spoke with the Outpost’s Ryan Burns at the scene, the man currently on the rooftop had been involved in an altercation with Arcata Police Department officers at a nearby branch of Coast Central Credit Union. The man fled the bank and broke into the Shenandoah Films building at 538 G Street. He then climbed out a window onto a nearby roof, eventually ending up where he is now.
Arcata Police have secured a ladder to help the man down, when or if he chooses to come down.
“I don’t want to come down,” the man told officers moments ago. “I don’t want to talk to you guys. Why am I up here? Because my life was threatened while I was doing legitimate business.”
Burns is still at the scene, and we have a call into APD requesting more information. We’ll update soon.
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