A 26-year-old Cloquet man is in the hospital after falling off the roof of the three-story Mexico Lindo building in Cloquet at about 10:15 p.m. Wednesday.
"It appears the man was stepping from the roof of one building to another and thought there was roof in between [where there wasn't any roof]," said Cloquet Police Chief Wade Lamirande.
The man fell and landed on the ground between the two buildings that make up the Mexico Lindo restaurant and bar in downtown Cloquet. There is a gap of about two feet between the buildings.
Lamirande said there was no evidence of foul play, and the fall appears to have been accidental.
"My understanding is there was someone on the roof with him and pedestrians down below," Lamirande said, verifying that police and Cloquet Area Fire District personnel responded to the scene. "Both the witnesses and the victim corroborated that it was an unintentional accident."
ADVERTISEMENT
CAFD paramedics transported the man to Community Memorial Hospital in Cloquet; Lamirande didn't know if he was still at CMH or had been transferred somewhere else. The police chief said the man had some serious injuries, but he didn't think they were life threatening.
According to Lamirande, the only way to access the roof of the buildings is from the outside. He said he did not think the man and his companion were authorized to be on the rooftop. He did not know if alcohol or drugs were a factor in the accident.
