The Badger Herald: Sports: Canadian man tries to bungee onto ship

Updated Tuesday, December 8, 2009, at 2:14 a.m.

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Sports

Canadian man tries to bungee onto ship — misses

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Thursday, October 3, 2002 12:00 a.m.

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia (REUTERS) — A man was charged with criminal mischief Monday after he attempted, unsuccessfully, to bungee jump from a Vancouver bridge to the deck of a passing cruise ship.

William Dean Sullivan miscalculated the ship’s speed and suffered minor head injuries Sunday when he bounced off the ship’s tennis court, volleyball net and a deck railing before being left dangling in mid-air as the ship sailed away, Vancouver police said.

Police said Sullivan planned to bungee jump from the Lions Gate Bridge, which spans the entrance to Vancouver harbor, stopping just above the passing ship so he could then lower himself a short distance to the deck.

“There were shrieks of horror from down below — I guess the people saw him coming, you know, on the ship. I guess he missed,” witness Kate Hill told the Vancouver Sun newspaper.

After failing to land on the ship, Sullivan, of Nanaimo, British Columbia, rappelled himself down to the water where he was rescued by a passing water taxi, which turned him over for arrest, according to police.

Sullivan’s motive remained unknown, although his friends told local media he was an aspiring stuntman. Sullivan was released on bail Monday on the condition he promise not to attempt any more jumps pending a trial.

A police spokesman said they were taking the incident seriously because of the danger it posed.

“The individual himself could have been killed,” Det. Scott Driemel said.