‘ I thought it would make me feel more alive’
Marisa Lazo, who was dramatically rescued from a downtown Toronto crane last year, received an absolute discharge late last month after pleading guilty to two counts of mischief.
While Lazo’s crane climb captured international attention, her guilty plea escaped the media glare after her lawyer vacated a Jan. 10 court date in the Ontario Court of Justice.
According to an audio recording of the Dec. 29 proceeding, Lazo received an absolute discharge. The Crown withdrew four counts of mischief.
Lazo, 23, read a lengthy and tearful apology in court that included some insight into why she scaled a 25- to 30- storey condo construction crane at 50 Wellesley St. E. at 3: 10 a. m. on April 26, 2017.
“Climbing that crane was a terrible idea, it was a terrible mistake. I’m ashamed and embarrassed and did not see all the harm that I caused,” Lazo told court.
The George Brown architecture studies student, who went to high school at Lakeshore Catholic in Port Colborne, said she knew what she was doing was “wrong and dangerous.”
But prior to the incident, Lazo said she was struggling with her mental health. She said she was drinking heavily and avoiding getting the help she needed.
After a night of drinking, and feeling alone and isolated, Lazo said she was walking by the construction site when she “impulsively decided” to hop a fence and scale the crane.
“I climbed to the top of the tower to see the view and take pictures. I thought it would make me feel more alive and would be exciting,” she told the court.
Lazo said she was trying to climb down, but made a “misstep,” seized a cable and slid down “uncontrollably” until she landed on a small platform about halfway down.
While she had no suicidal thoughts, Lazo said she considered jumping when she realized she was “stuck,” but decided “I can’t do that to myself or my family.”
She thanked firefighters and police officers who came to her rescue “after I made reckless, selfish and costly decisions.”
Lazo told court she will be haunted for the rest of her life by what happened that day.