Post by sudan on Mar 1, 2007 20:45:34 GMT -5
Man who threatened to jump was upset with Oprah Winfrey
February 28, 2007
FROM STNG WIRE REPORTS
The man who caused a traffic snarl in the Loop on Wednesday morning by climbing a 26-story scaffolding on State Street is the same man who threatened to jump off a crane at the site of the Trump Tower two years ago, all over a dispute with Oprah Winfrey, police said.
Daryl Murphy of Chicago was taken to a hospital about 10 a.m. Wednesday after negotiators talked him off the scaffolding outside 2 E. Randolph near the Chicago Theater on Wednesday, according to police News Affairs Director Monique Bond. He was apparently not injured, but will undergo a mental health evaluation and may face criminal charges, she said.
Police initially responded about 7 a.m. to a call of a man on a crane, according to Central District Police Lt. Robert Lajewski. The Fire Department was dispatched about 7:40 a.m., Rosado said. As police negotiators tried to talk Murphy back into the building, State Street was closed to both vehicular and pedestrian traffic between Randolph and Washington, and several CTA buses were rerouted around the area.
Bond said Murphy, apparently upset over the dismissal of a lawsuit, “wavered back and forth between coming inside. You never can tell in these situations whether they are serious about jumping. There is possibly some level of mental instability involved. He would start to come in, then go back out and climb even higher.”
Murphy is “repeat offender,” Bond said. In May 2005, he climbed a crane at the construction site of Trump Tower Chicago at 401 N. Wabash and threatened to jump. In that case, the crane was lowered and Murphy was arrested and charged with reckless conduct and criminal trespass, she said.
Charges are pending in relation to Wednesday morning’s incident, Bond said.
Both incidents apparently stemmed from a documentary film Murphy produced about life in the Robert Taylor Homes on the South Side. Murphy, owner of Real Movie Productions, filed a federal lawsuit in May 2004 claiming he sent the film to Winfrey, hoping for his big break.
While neither Winfrey nor her Harpo Productions were named in the suit, it did allege that the ideas from his film were passed along, and eventually stolen by Eddie Murphy, Ron Howard and others for use in the animated series “The PJs,” which ran from 1999-2001 on Fox and WB networks. Murphy’s suit claimed copyright infringement and asked for $10 million plus attorney fees and court costs.
A written statement from Harpo Productions at the time of the Trump Tower incident said all unsolicited materials received are destroyed without review and not passed on.
February 28, 2007
FROM STNG WIRE REPORTS
The man who caused a traffic snarl in the Loop on Wednesday morning by climbing a 26-story scaffolding on State Street is the same man who threatened to jump off a crane at the site of the Trump Tower two years ago, all over a dispute with Oprah Winfrey, police said.
Daryl Murphy of Chicago was taken to a hospital about 10 a.m. Wednesday after negotiators talked him off the scaffolding outside 2 E. Randolph near the Chicago Theater on Wednesday, according to police News Affairs Director Monique Bond. He was apparently not injured, but will undergo a mental health evaluation and may face criminal charges, she said.
Police initially responded about 7 a.m. to a call of a man on a crane, according to Central District Police Lt. Robert Lajewski. The Fire Department was dispatched about 7:40 a.m., Rosado said. As police negotiators tried to talk Murphy back into the building, State Street was closed to both vehicular and pedestrian traffic between Randolph and Washington, and several CTA buses were rerouted around the area.
Bond said Murphy, apparently upset over the dismissal of a lawsuit, “wavered back and forth between coming inside. You never can tell in these situations whether they are serious about jumping. There is possibly some level of mental instability involved. He would start to come in, then go back out and climb even higher.”
Murphy is “repeat offender,” Bond said. In May 2005, he climbed a crane at the construction site of Trump Tower Chicago at 401 N. Wabash and threatened to jump. In that case, the crane was lowered and Murphy was arrested and charged with reckless conduct and criminal trespass, she said.
Charges are pending in relation to Wednesday morning’s incident, Bond said.
Both incidents apparently stemmed from a documentary film Murphy produced about life in the Robert Taylor Homes on the South Side. Murphy, owner of Real Movie Productions, filed a federal lawsuit in May 2004 claiming he sent the film to Winfrey, hoping for his big break.
While neither Winfrey nor her Harpo Productions were named in the suit, it did allege that the ideas from his film were passed along, and eventually stolen by Eddie Murphy, Ron Howard and others for use in the animated series “The PJs,” which ran from 1999-2001 on Fox and WB networks. Murphy’s suit claimed copyright infringement and asked for $10 million plus attorney fees and court costs.
A written statement from Harpo Productions at the time of the Trump Tower incident said all unsolicited materials received are destroyed without review and not passed on.