Illegal BASE jumper calls police after cell tower mishap

Published 6:57 pm Friday, October 18, 2019

MENOMONIE, Wis. — A BASE jumper who jumped illegally from a northwestern Wisconsin cellphone tower ended up calling the police on himself after his parachute became caught on a guy wire, leaving him dangling perilously 50 feet from the ground.

Police said the 20-year-old man jumped from the 300-foot Charter Communications tower in Menomonie on Thursday morning.

After his rescue at around 9:30 a.m., the man was treated at Mayo Clinic Health System and arrested for criminal trespass.

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BASE jumping stands for building, antenna, span and earth — the four common objects from which BASE jumpers launch their descent.

Menomonie is 70 miles east of Minneapolis.