ATLANTA - A homicide suspect remained perched on an 18-story construction crane for a third day Friday, holding police negotiators at bay. A plea from his sister, offers of food and a plan to have him jump onto air bags hadn't resolved the standoff.
The man, identified as Carl Edward Roland, got onto the crane around 5 p.m. Wednesday and told police he was thinking of killing himself by jumping, Atlanta police spokesman Sgt. John Quigley said. On Friday, he was still there.
"When he's ready to come down, he'll come down - one way or the other," Quigley said. "The protocol for them is to let him make the decisions."
Roland is wanted by the Pinellas County, Fla., sheriff's department in the death of ex-girlfriend Jennifer L. Gonzalez, 36. Her body was found Tuesday in a pond behind the apartment complex where she lived.
Authorities had said Thursday that Roland had talked to negotiators but refused food and water. Quigley said he didn't know if he had accepted anything since then.
Police called Roland's younger sister, Towana, who lives in Atlanta, to the scene Thursday. She said she hadn't seen him in years and hadn't realized he was in town.
She was not allowed to go up the crane, so she borrowed a mirror and tried to get his attention by flashing sunlight and shouting "Sugarfoot, it's your baby sister!"
Also Thursday, the fire department set up large air bags on the roof of the condominium building under construction, with the thought that they could swing the arm of the crane in that direction and persuade Roland to jump, said Atlanta police Lt. F.J. Zunno. The fall to the bags would be about 90 feet.
Since March, the 41-year-old Clearwater, Fla., man had quit his job as a software salesman, filed for bankruptcy and talked about moving to Las Vegas, the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times reported Friday. He had also talked about getting back together with the woman he is now accused of killing.
The standoff was disrupting traffic - and providing free entertainment - to residents and visitors in Atlanta's busy Buckhead neighborhood, an area filled with clubs and restaurants. Lunch and dinner crowds packed restaurant patios with clear views of the crane standoff.