A man who led police on a bizarre and nerve-wracking foot chase through Boyle Heights Wednesday night is facing an arson charge Thursday morning.
The man jumped from rooftop to rooftop wearing only boxer shorts and a single sock. At times, he was jumping from dangerous heights.
A security guard spotted the man and told CBS he tried to convince the man not to climb the roof of a church.
The security guard said of his conversation with the suspect, “He was up on the platforms and he kept saying, ‘I don't want to do it.’”
“The first thing I said was ‘Don’t do it then. I’m scared of heights, and I’m not coming up to get you.”
The man climbed some scaffolding that surrounded a bell tower and set a cross on fire.
KTLA tweeted footage of the fire on Twitter.
Los Angeles Fire Department units responded at about 8:25 p.m. to St. Mary's Catholic Church at 407 S. Chicago St. on reports of a man on the roof who appeared "to be trying to light the building on fire," according to the department's Margaret Stewart.
The man also appeared to kick a second statue in an attempt to knock it over.
CBS 2 Air Traffic Report Desmond Shaw tracked the man as he later rappelled down the sides of buildings.
“[The suspect] was looking like he was going to climb down. He actually started swinging on power lines before going back on top of another roof and, eventually, inside of an apartment building,” according to Shaw.
He was finally caught and taken into custody before 10 p.m. before being transported to a hospital.
The fire at the church burned out. Firefighters said there was no threat to the building.
Reporting was contributed by City News Service.