In the early morning of New Year’s Day, 1 January, the men entered the Giddings & Lewis Machine Tools plant in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, US and climbed the ladder of an overhead crane, according to police reports.

Passon fell from the 50ft (15m)-high bridge at about 3am.

Neither man was an employee of the company. Authorities believe that alcohol was a factor in the incident, according to a report in local newspaper the Fond du Lac Reporter.

Other reports said that after his friend fell, Wiersema remained on top of the crane for several hours, terrified to come down, according to the criminal complaint.