Climbing Ambassador Bridge gets local musician arrested
A Windsor man will face a criminal charge for illegally climbing the Ambassador Bridge over the weekend — an unauthorized publicity stunt that police describe as “selfish” and “incredibly dangerous.”
“Not only did he place his own life at risk, he placed the life of anyone using this international crossing at risk,” said Windsor police spokesman Sgt. Steve Betteridge.
“If he had fallen, if he had landed on a motor vehicle using that crossing, he could have easily caused the death of any occupant of that vehicle. He could have caused a motor-vehicle collision, or a chain reaction of multiple motor-vehicle collisions.”
Luke Heney, who fronts a Windsor rock act called 1988, scaled the bridge during the early morning hours of Saturday by clambering all the way up one of the suspension cables on the Canadian side of the structure.
Without a harness or any other safety equipment, Heney perched at the top of the tower just under the red-lettered Ambassador Bridge sign, where he draped a banner promoting his band’s new single.
A camera drone was used to record the stunt. Heney also posted live videos via Instagram from his vantage point more than 300 feet above the ground.
“This is the craziest **** I’ve ever seen,” Heney bragged while wearing a sweater with the word “Narcissist” on his chest.
“If this doesn’t make you go and click ‘like’ and follow and check out the tunes, I don’t know what will.”
Around 7:45 a.m., Heney climbed back down — to find several Windsor police units waiting to arrest him.
In his live videos, Heney expressed surprise the reaction wasn’t more “media intensive,” and scoffed at the bridge’s lack of security. “No one cared that I was up there.”
Betteridge said Heney has been charged with mischief under the Criminal Code of Canada. Penalties for mischief at any level can include prison time.
“We would label this a very selfish act,” Betteridge said.
“It was self-serving, done for publicity … There are countless avenues to successfully and positively promote a subject without putting yourself in danger, putting others in danger, and breaking the law.”
Although the suspect was co-operative with police, Betteridge noted the stunt occupied the resources of emergency responders that should have been devoted to the community.
“When our responders are tied up (with this), they are not available for another emergency in and around our city,” Betteridge said. “All because of a very poor decision.”
Meanwhile, Heney has been revelling in the attention — and is seeking more.
“Shout-out to Windsor police for being total gems,” Heney said in an Instagram video.
Another post to the band’s account includes the caption: “Die courageous or live a coward?”