August 10, 2005
Fan Arrested After Jump at Stadium
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
An 18-year-old man leaped from the third deck behind home plate onto the mesh netting above the lower seats at Yankee Stadium in the eighth inning last night.
Detective Louis Camacho, a police spokesman, identified the fan as Scott Harper of Armonk, N.Y. Camacho said that Harper was taken to Lincoln Medical Center and treated for minor injuries and that he was under arrest. Camacho said it was not known if Harper was intoxicated.
Sgt. Lenny Tobie of the New York Police Department said at Yankee Stadium that the fan would be charged with reckless endangerment, and Camacho confirmed that that was a charge Harper would face.
"According to witnesses, he just jumped," Camacho said. "He was with three other friends, and he just jumped over the railing."
Harper and his friends had been discussing how much weight the screen could hold, Detective Kevin Czartoryski said, and Harper decided to see for himself.
Harper tore a gash through the netting but did not fall through. He held his head for a few moments as fans snapped pictures and yelled at him from below.
The game was stopped for about four minutes as he tried to decide how to leave. Eventually, he crawled to the back of the screen and into a box on the loge level, where the police and security officials were waiting.
The fan made his jump as Derek Jeter was putting down a sacrifice bunt in the eighth inning. Another fan made the same jump a few years ago, Manager Joe Torre recalled.
"I was hoping I wouldn't see it again," Torre said. "You can break your neck. That's the first thing that crosses your mind."
Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
