A thrill-seeker was captured on video walking across two abandoned Los Angeles skyscrapers on a tightrope – and now the police are after him.
Ben Schneider walked slowly but surely across two graffiti-tagged towers about 500 feet from the ground while using a slackline and wearing a safety harness, according to KNBC.
The 28-year-old successfully made it from one side to the other as he kept his arms extended to keep his balance while a few buddies caught the heart-pounding moment on tape, including with the help of a drone.
The life-threatening stunt was then posted online.
“It was very scary. I was looking down… When you get scared you start to shake and when you shake, the line shakes and then you fall off,” Schneider told ABC 7 Los Angeles.
“I didn’t want to fall. You just have to calm your mind.”
He told the station that while the buildings were guarded by police, a group of friends held religious signs as a decoy while he slipped into one of the vacant buildings and reached the top.
“The police are definitely after me, which is why it’s very risky for me to be doing this interview,” he added during the interview.
“There’s a police officer right there,” Schneider said as he pointed to a police vehicle. “If that police officer just turns his head and looks at me, I’m in jail… With great risk, comes great reward.”
The LAPD said in a statement it has opened an investigation into the stunt, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“It is not safe and it poses a risk to those trespassing, the general public and public safety officers, including our Fire Department in the event an emergency occurs,” the department stated.
The buildings were under construction for years before the developer ran out of money in 2019, leaving them barren and an attraction to graffiti artists, the newspaper reported.