Screaming Noel Talked Down From Xmas Tree

A man kept a crowd amused and cops and firefighters fearful for his safety Wednesday afternoon after he climbed most of the way up the Christmas tree on the Green and refused to come back down.

After about a half hour, police Officer Dave Runlett finally convinced the man to climb down to safety.

The drama began around noon.

A crowd started noticing the man, who is 42 and whose first name is Noel, up in the tree with two banners: one blue and one white, with text on it. He issued a continual bilingual stream of random statements.

“Freedom!” he cried.

And: ​“Merry Christmas!”

Cops and firefighters arrived on the scene. They tried at first to coax him down. He refused.

“You want to come down and talk to me about it?” asked fire Lt. Herschel Wadley.

No dice.

“I’m not crazy!” the man yelled at one point. ​“I’m demanding my rights!”

Officer Mark O’Neill ordered the electricity shut off to the tree.

“That branch is going to break,” worried one officer at the foot of the tree.

Ambulance workers brought a gurney into place. Meanwhile, Sgts. Peter McKoy and Tammi Means started shepherding bystanders away from the immediate vicinity of the tree in case of a fall.

Sgt. Max Joyner said the decision was made not to use a ladder in case the man was armed; and in case it might prompt the man to jump.

So the crew waited for the police department’s hostage negotiator, David Hartman, to arrive.

In the meantime, around 12:30, the man shouted alternately into his cell phone, where a police dispatcher was on the line, and down to Officer Runlett.

“I want to go to court!” the man shouted.

“Come on down. I’ll walk you over,” Runlett told him.

“He promised!” the man proclaimed to the Green, before beginning to climb down just as Hartman arrived.

“Be careful,” Runlett shouted up as the man climbed down.

At the base of the tree, he stood inside the fence around the tree and emptied his pockets into the snow. After he climbed over the fence, police handcuffed him without incident.

The man continued to shout slogans seemingly at random. ​“Back to the future!” he bellowed. He yelled about fighting for freedom.

“I’m not crazy!” he insisted. ​“I want to go to court!”

Lt. Jeff Hoffman said the man would be charged with breach of peace. He said the man refused medical attention.

Cops eventually walked the man over to a waiting police cruiser. The lights could go back on, and the regularly scheduled holiday pageantry could continue.