Man charged after climbing Seaside Heights roller coaster, planting flag

A man is facing charges after climbing onto the Seaside Heights roller coaster and planting a flag.

Authorities received a report of someone on the roller coaster, which has been partially submerged in the water since Hurricane Sandy, at about 9 a.m., police said.

The man surrendered to New Jersey State Police troopers, who took him to shore on a boat, said Lt. Stephen Jones, a state police spokesman.

Christopher Angulo was charged with disorderly conduct, Seaside Heights Police Chief Thomas Boyd said. The 38-year-old from Lavallette was taken to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation.

The man planted an American flag on the roller coaster.

A man who said he was on the structure called the New Jersey radio station 100.1 and said he was putting a flag on the ride and didn't have any weapons.

"I'm putting up a flag and I might camp out here for a couple days," said the caller, who said he was a local tree climber. "It looks so bare without a flag."

Jones said authorities haven't verified the caller was the same person, but the man who was on the coaster did put up a flag. The flag is still on the ride, Boyd said.

Boyd described Angulo as a "patriot" and said he made comments to police about Sandy relief aid.

Angulo got to the roller coaster by canoeing from Lavallette, Boyd said.

The half-sunk coaster has become one of the iconic images of Sandy, which devestated much of the Jersey shore in late October.