Lubbock police identify man who climbed cell tower in medical district

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - Lubbock police have taken 49-year-old Chad Coffey into custody after he climbed a cell phone tower in the medical district. Responders are now reopening the area.

Police say they did not recover any weapons.

LPD received a call at 3:27 p.m. of a man climbing a cell phone tower near 22nd Street and Memphis Avenue. Lubbock Fire Rescue and LPD shut down multiple streets in the area.

LPD issued a notification saying SWAT was responding to the incident and advised people in the area to remain indoors and for the rest of the public to avoid the area.

The tower was surrounded by a locked fence with barbed wire to keep out intruders, according to a police report. Police found a metal chair and a t-shirt covering the barbed wire on top of the fence, indicating how Coffey gained entry into the area.

Officers cut the chain on the fence to also gain access to the area. Coffey safely climbed down from the tower and was taken into custody. He has been charged with criminal trespassing.

He is currently being held in the Lubbock County Detention Center on a $5,000 bond.

Coffey was charged in a similar incident back in September 2016.

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