Crane Operator Was Suicidal, Paper Says

The operator of a crane that tumbled from a Financial District building, killing himself and four other people, had been hospitalized for psychiatric observation and had tried to commit suicide, a newspaper reported today.

Lonnie Boggess, who lived in Tacoma, Wash., also had a history of chronic alcoholism, according to court records obtained by the Sacramento Bee.

The San Francisco coroner’s office planned on releasing within two weeks the autopsy results. Boggess’ blood-alcohol level will be tested. The coroner will also try to determine whether he may have suffered a heart attack to start the tragic chain of events.

Sheriff’s records from Lakewood, Wash., revealed Boggess last March barricaded himself in his home and yelled to police, “I have a gun. Go ahead and shoot me.” Two hours later, he was found hiding in a closet.

Boggess was hospitalized for psychiatric evaluation and had to be restrained in the sheriff’s van when he began trying to smash his head against the windows and screens in what authorities said was a suicide attempt.

Boggess tried to kill himself again April 3 in his garage with the motor of a vehicle running, records showed. Officers found him unconscious and transferred him to a mental hospital for a second period of observation.

Last January, Boggess’ 14-year-old daughter, Christine, testified at a custody hearing that Boggess “drank to the point of drunkenness on a regular basis.”

Ironworker union officials in Tacoma said Boggess’s personal problems were never a factor in his work.

“If he had these sort of problems, he never brought them to work with him,” one union official told the Bee.

The crane broke apart Tuesday at the height of the morning rush hour, with one section striking a high-rise office building and the other glancing off another skyscraper before landing on a busy intersection.