Bridge-Climbing Suspects Apologize

The men arrested on Monday for disorderly conduct for climbing below the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge have issued an apology to the community.

“We wish to offer our most sincere apologies to those who were either stuck in traffic or inconvenienced while we attempted to scale the Ravenel Bridge,” said the statement released to the Post and Courier from attorney David Aylor on behalf of his clients, 21-year-old James Chad Tomberlin and 18-year-old Kahrall Arkeen Wright. “We also want to apologize to and thank the police officers and firefighters who came to our aid.”

Court records indicate Tomberlin and Wright are both still held on a $260 bond in the Charleston County jail. Both men face disorderly conduct charges for the incident. Tomberlin also faces a drug paraphernalia charge for carrying what police believe was a marijuana pipe.

The men told police they were practicing "parkour" when they climbed over the railing on the bridge and sat on a beam 180 feet above the Cooper River. The extreme sport dates to the 1920s an involves precise body movements and tumbles.

Police flocked to the scene after passersby reported seeing the men on the bridge railing. Tomberlin had already made the climb from under the bridge and was sitting on the pedestrian path when officers arrived. A fire department ladder truck and a firefighter with a harness were used to retrieve Wright who was still beneath the bridge.

The whole ordeal held up rush hour traffic Monday for several hours as officers closed the bridge. A bomb squad was also called.

The men were featured in a February Spartanburg Herald-Journal story on parkour when they were apparently opening a studio to teach the sport to others. Tomberlin said at the time that he used parkour as a way to overcome the symptoms of Tourette's syndrome.