Man claiming to have bomb climbs Santa Monica's iconic Ferris wheel as park is evacuated

A man, who climbed the iconic Ferris wheel at the Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles and claimed to have a bomb in his backpack, was arrested by the Santa Monica Police Department after an operation that lasted more than an hour, authorities said.

At least 10 people were on board the Ferris wheel in the Pier's Pacific Park, which had to be stopped for the man's safety at the time, police said in a news release. Officers evacuated the Pier and Pacific Park and closed it to the public, as the incident was investigated.

The incident unfolded on Monday afternoon when police received a radio call of a "distraught male subject" climbing the 85-foot-tall Ferris wheel on the Pier, as bystanders watched in horror.

Officers arrived at the scene to find the subject approximately two-thirds of the way up the Ferris wheel in the steel supports.

Aerial footage from the incident shows the man climbing the steel supports, carrying a dark bag.

A witness told officers that the man, later identified as Juan Gonzalez, 37, claimed to have a bomb in his backpack.

While officers from the Santa Monica Fire and Police Departments worked to rescue the riders in the wheel’s gondolas, members of the SMPD Crisis Negotiation Team attempted to cajole Gonzalez into coming down to the Pier Deck.

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'Agitated and upset'

Police said Gonzalez was "agitated and upset" during the negotiations and continued to make bomb threats to the officers. It was more than an hour before Gonzalez climbed down low enough for officers to take him into custody. Gonzalez was not in possession of an explosive device or any other weapons, police said.

Gonzalez was evaluated by the fire department on-scene and then arrested on charges of criminal threats, making a false bomb threat to authorities, and resisting arrest.

The suspect is currently at Santa Monica Jail, as his case is being prepared to be presented to the District Attorney, the SMPD shared.

Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @saman_shafiq7.