Suspect stays atop crane for 3rd day in standoff

ATLANTA -- A homicide suspect remained perched on an 18-story construction crane for a third day yesterday, holding police at bay and causing a spectacle in the heart of the city's entertainment district.

A plea from his sister, offers of food, and a plan to have him jump onto air bags about 90 feet below hadn't resolved the standoff.

The man, identified as Carl Edward Roland, 41, got onto the crane high above Atlanta's busy Buckhead neighborhood about 5 p.m. Wednesday and told police he was thinking of killing himself by jumping, police spokesman Sergeant John Quigley said.

''When he's ready to come down, he'll come down -- one way or the other," Quigley said. ''The protocol for them is to let him make the decisions."

Roland is wanted by the Pinellas County, Fla., sheriff's department in the death of ex-girlfriend Jennifer L. Gonzalez, 36. Her body was found Tuesday in a pond behind the apartment complex where she lived.