TORONTO — A young woman stranded for hours after scaling a construction crane in the middle of the night is a thrill seeker, a friend said Thursday.
Marisa Lazo, 23, appeared in court Thursday to face six counts of mischief by interfering with property.
Lazo was granted bail for $500 with several conditions, including staying away from construction sites and rooftops. The dual Canadian-American citizen also had to surrender her U.S. passport and attend "suitable counselling."
Lazo's perilous climb and the dramatic hours-long rescue operation that followed on Wednesday made headlines around the country.
Her friend, Sara Burton, called her a "really good girl" and an "adventure-seeking" person.
"When I saw it, I knew that it was maybe not the best decision, obviously, maybe some logic was not playing into place," Burton said outside court. "But the fact that she did it was not a shock to me — or that she had the ability to do it."
Firefighters said Wednesday they believed Lazo climbed up the crane, crawled out along the boom, and slid down a cable to a large pulley, where she was stranded.
Toronto Fire Capt. Rob Wonfor, who rescued Lazo by rappelling down the towering machinery with her, said he was impressed she had been able to scale the crane unharmed.
"She has to tell me how she did it, because she has to be our new training officer for high-angle (rescue) because it's impressive," Wonfor said after the rescue. "It was hard enough for me to go up with ropes and harnesses and she free-climbed that."
Burton, however, was not surprised.
"She's always there for the thrill," the friend said.
Lazo left court, pursued by reporters, without saying anything.
Earlier on Thursday, Mayor John Tory commended Wonfor's actions as well as the police officer who climbed the crane and helped in the rescue that left part of the downtown core shut down for several hours.
"We want the people of Toronto to know that this is a small example of the public service rendered every single day by police, firefighters, paramedics, transit workers and a whole bunch of other people," Tory said.
