Marisa Lazo, the 23-year-old accused in the “woman-on-a-crane” case, was released on bail Thursday as more details emerged about the strange saga that captivated Toronto.
She is charged with six counts of mischief in the incident, where a woman was discovered around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, sitting on the hook of a crane roughly 45 metres above a downtown construction site. The ordeal could cost the condo development project on the site as much as $60,000, according to estimates released Thursday.
“Marisa, you’re an angel,” a man shouted from the back of the courtroom as Lazo was led into the prisoner’s box in the mental health court at Old City Hall. She was wearing what appeared to be the same jean jacket she wore when photographed Wednesday.
In a brief hearing, Judge Kathleen Caldwell granted Lazo bail. She is due back in court on May 17. As a condition of her release, Lazo was ordered to stay away from construction sites and rooftops. Her lawyer did not return a request for comment.
A friend who showed up to court to support Lazo on Thursday told a crush of reporters that Lazo was “adventurous.” Instagram photos appear to show Lazo perched on rooftops. In another photo, she is lying on train tracks.
The hearing did nothing to clarify how or why the woman arrived on the crane hook. But condo development firm Plaza Corp. said Thursday that security footage gives a better idea of what happened.
Scott McLellan, Plaza’s senior vice-president, said security cameras around the construction site at 50 Wellesley St. captured a woman pacing around the two-metre fence at the edge of the site around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday morning.
“She sort of walked back and forth there for a few minutes — I guess sort of scoping out the best place to climb that fence,” said McLellan, who has seen the tapes. Then, she was over the fence and into the site. “I mean if she can climb a crane, she can get over a fence pretty quickly,” he said.
The security tapes, he said, show the woman starting to climb up the crane. The cameras, however, are trained on the ground, so they only captured her climbing for about three metres, he said.
“There did not appear to be anyone else with her,” McLellan said.
McLellan would not provide the National Post with the security footage. He said the video was sent to police and he did not want to impede the investigation. The theory among firefighters who spoke to the Post on Wednesday was that the woman climbed to the top of the crane then slid down a greased cable to land on the hook.
Wednesday’s incident snarled traffic around Church and Wellesley streets as emergency personnel worked to rescue the woman. Firefighter Rob Wonfor climbed for more than an hour to the top of the crane before rappelling down to the woman on the hook. Once the woman was in a harness, she and the firefighter were lowered to the ground on ropes. After medical examination, she was arrested and taken into police custody.
According to court documents, Lazo is charged with a total of six mischief counts because the incident endangered the lives of a firefighter and police negotiator who climbed the crane in the rescue, and also interfered with the operation of the construction site, the TTC’s bus service, Toronto paramedic services and the Toronto fire department.
McLellan, of Plaza Corp., said the construction site was shut down for the entire day — costing the project an estimated $50,000 to $60,000. Roughly 80 people reported for work on Wednesday, and all had to be paid even though the site was shuttered so safety inspectors could determine whether the crane was damaged. (It was not.) Deliveries had to be sent back, he said, and trade work had to be rescheduled.
“It’s a whole domino effect,” said Marc Moro, the executive vice-president of TMG Builders, the company managing construction of the condo.
“Just completely bewildered. Everyone I’ve spoken to in the industry … was in complete disbelief of how she was there.”
• Email: jedmiston@nationalpost.com | Twitter: jakeedmiston
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