Las Vegas, NV (AP) - A man who scaled the exterior of the massive Sphere on Wednesday morning was taken into custody, authorities said.
Las Vegas Metro Police said they began receiving calls about a person climbing the 366-foot-tall spherical structure near the Strip just after 10 a.m. Metro confirmed in an email about an hour later that the man had been detained.
The department identified the man as Maison Des Champs, 24.
LVMPD Sheriff Kevin McMahill characterized the incident as a publicity stunt “because of who they told me that they believe it is.”
Des Champs is a local rock climber who has pulled off similar stunts before in Las Vegas and beyond. He posted a short cellphone video Wednesday morning on his Instagram account from atop the Sphere.
The video shows him against a blue but cloudy sky with a GoPro camera strapped to his head.
“Hey guys, I’m here on top of the Sphere,” he says in the video, wind whipping in the background as he explains that he scaled the structure to help raise funds for a pregnant woman who is experiencing homelessness.
Des Champs was first arrested by Las Vegas police in August 2021 after scaling the Aria on the Strip. That time, he claimed that the stunt was to protest mask mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic. He was charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct and trespassing, but prosecutors later dismissed the case, court records show.
Des Champs, who bills himself as “The Official Pro-Life Spider-Man” on his social media accounts, says he climbs for a nonprofit called Let Them Live, which raises funds for women who seek an abortion because they cannot financially support a child.