Headline next week:

"Student at School 34 shoots self with gun found in playground."

Jersey City police say man sees them, takes off running, and then climbs 35 feet into a tree to avoid questioning

Friday, July 30, 2010
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A Jersey City man climbed 35 feet up into a tree Wednesday night as he tried to get away from police officers chasing him because they thought he had a gun, reports said.

But police never found a gun on Nathaniel Washington, 25, of Bartholdi Street, and he was only charged with obstructing a government function when he climbed down from the tree on Wade Street at 11 p.m., reports said.

Officers responding to Martin Luther King Drive at Wade Street on a report of a man with a gun in his waistband spotted Washington among a group of men sitting on crates outside a fried chicken store, reports said, adding that he fit the suspect's description.

As police approached, Washington clutched at his waistband, stood and ran away, reports said, adding that he cut through the grounds of School 34 before climbing a fence into a Wade Street yard, where he went up the tree.

Police "continually ordered the actor to climb out of the tree" and when he did he was handcuffed, reports said.

No gun was found on him or along the path of his flight, reports said.