"Spider-Man" gets arrested in Sydney
A REAL-LIFE Spiderman scaled a 41-storey building in Sydney today but was greeted by police waiting to arrest him on his descent
A crowd of about 200 people gathered at the corner of Phillip and Bent streets as Alain Robert climbed the RBS Tower at Aurora Place about 10.30am.
'Spiderman' fined $750 for "disrespecting" Australia
Gallery: Daredevil in action
The crowd cheered when he reached the top of the building about 11.15am and immediately began his descent to street level.
Police had closed off a section of Bent St between Phillip and Macquarie streets and had officers ready to arrest Robert.
He was duly arrested him when he finished his descent, to more cheers from the crowd.
Robert has scaled more than 70 skyscrapers all over the world including Chicago's Sears Tower, Canary Wharf in London and the Petronas towers in Malaysia.
Peta, an office worker who stopped to watch as she was buying a coffee after a morning meeting, said it was fantastic that Robert was climbing the building.
"I think it's is really important for people to push the limit, I think it's an important part of life going out and doing crazy things," she said.
"It's absolutely ridiculous, it's great. I love it."
Robert scales buildings all over the planet and has arrived to Australia with no plans of slowing down.
Robert's target was not revealed until just before he started up Aurora Place at the corner of Phillip and Bent sts in Sydney's CBD this morning.
Superintendent Ken Finch was less than impressed with Robert's efforts.
"The potential for danger not only to that person is enormous but a danger to onlookers, and to the emergency services who were diverted from the normal course of their duties,'' he said.
"It's not only dangerous, it's time-consuming and costly to the taxpayers of this state.''
Robert was taken to The Rocks police station and questioned before being charged with risking the safety of another by climbing a building or structure.
He was released on bail to appear at the Downing Centre Local Court tomorrow.
It's not the Frenchman's first brush with NSW police: in 2003 he was arrested for scaling the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Early last month Robert was arrested after he climbed the Lloyds building in London in protest of climate change.
Robert has climbed the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Sydney Opera House, the Empire State building in New York and the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur