A Belgian national has been charged with burglary after allegedly base jumping from two buildings in central Auckland.
This morning, firefighters carried out a complex rescue at height after a person with a parachute became stranded 23 floors up the side of a hotel on Albert Street.
Inspector Grae Anderson said police established the man was allegedly the same person who jumped from the under-construction Seascape tower in September.
The person, dubbed “iliesnec” on social media, filmed themselves leaping from the 187m-high structure.
“We do not condone this type of behaviour; it is reckless and poses risk to the person jumping and those on the ground," Anderson said.
The 22-year-old man was charged with burglary and will appear in the Auckland District Court on October 27.
Auckland City senior station officer Darren Gussey, who was part of the specialist high angle rescue team, told 1News crews were called at approximately 10.45pm to a person trapped on the side of the building.
"As it turns out, it was a base jumper that was trapped on the external wall of the building, approximately 23 levels up.
"We've had a multi-agency response with police and St John, and on arrival, a complex rescue had to be undertaken," he explained.
He said the person was "clinging to the exterior of the building, so we've had to secure the patient using our specialist high-angle rescue team".
Anderson said the building suffered exterior damage during the rescue, with guests staying at the hotel having their evening "disrupted".
“In order to reach the man on the outside of the building, a glass panel worth approximately $20,000 had to be smashed.”
St John said it sent one rapid response unit, one ambulance and one operations manager to the scene.
"Our ambulance staff assessed one person at the scene in a minor condition. No transportation to hospital was required," a spokesperson said.
Gussey said "the person was reporting that he didn't have much left in him".
"So we gathered from that that he was basically clinging on to some part of the structure."
He said once crews removed the exterior windows they were able to retrieve the person, who he said only sustained minor injuries and did not need to go to hospital.
"Basically, the person appears to have no injuries at all, and he is assisting police with their inquiries.
"He has been checked out by the CERT team medic from St John, and then once he was safely in the room, he was handed over to police," he added.
Gussey said it was "always a relief when you can save somebody from a what would be a terrible scene".
Anderson urged anyone considering a similar stunt to reconsider.
“In this case the man not only needed rescuing, but paying guests to the hotel had their stay impacted and expensive damage had to be caused to facilitate that rescue.
“This is unacceptable and now instead of leaving New Zealand and carrying on with his travel plans he will stay here and face the consequences of his actions.”
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