CHARLOTTE, NC — Alan Neblett was working as a valet at the EpiCentre in uptown Charlotte on Thursday night when he saw a man sliding down a canopy.
Video posted on social media shows the man, identified as Alex Freudenberg, flying off the end of the awning into the street below and landing on top of a car before landing on his feet.
"He slid, coming down about 15 mph, and slid right into the valet lane,” Neblett said.
Neblett was one of many who witnessed the man jump from the third floor of the EpiCentre.
"He came down and landed right here on the windshield of the vehicle,” Neblett said.
Photos from the scene show a Lexus SUV with a shattered windshield.
(Alex Freudenberg)
"I've seen a number of things, but I've never seen anybody slide down this and into the street onto a vehicle, never in my entire life,’ Neblett said.
Neblett said one of the valets was moving the SUV when Freudenberg landed on it.
"I really thought he actually wasn't going to make it,” Neblett said. “I actually thank God that he is OK."
Freudenberg was arrested and now faces misdemeanor charges of injury to personal property.
“God bless him. Man, slow down on the drinking, man. Quit drinking,” Neblett said.
A local radio personality known by many as "Chewy" almost didn't get the incident on video.
Before jumping, Freudenberg said to him, “You guys want to see something awesome?”
On South College Street, Chewy, along with a crowd of people leaving uptown bars and clubs for the night, watched.
"I was in the middle of a text message and I said, 'Wait. Wait. No!,'" Chewy said.
After all the excitement, Chewy took pictures, which show the smashed windshields, the awning and Freudenberg in handcuffs next to stunned onlookers.
"The awning had a little bit of rain on it, so it was almost like a slip and slide,” Chewy said. “He thought it was a Carowinds ride."
Chewy said security personnel and officers with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department were on Freudenberg in seconds, and he is lucky he didn’t get himself killed.
After his celebration, Freudenberg flexed his muscles.
"No regard for anyone's safety except for, ‘I want to prove to myself,’” Chewy said.
Freudenberg is charged with injury to personal property.
He is already out of jail. No court date has yet been scheduled.
Channel 9 reporter Stephanie Tinoco spoke to the owner of the SUV off camera and he showed her the damage.
He said he had been leaving the club when it happened.
"It was just unbelievable,” Neblett said. “I've never seen nothing like it in my life."
Tinoco tried to talk with security personnel about any security changes at the EpiCentre, but officers said everyone was off for the night.
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