A man has been arrested after climbing the Ferris wheel on Santa Monica’s pier and making a bomb threat, leaving riders stranded in the gondolas for two hours.

Police said the man – who climbed the wheel in sneakers, jeans and a t-shirt, with a backpack on his back – appeared to be ‘in crisis.’ 

They sent negotiators, who managed to talk him down. No one was injured, and he did not have any explosives or incendiary device on him. 

The alarm was raised at 2:35pm local time, and at 4pm the man appeared to be speaking to police negotiators. Half an hour later, he climbed down and was detained.

A man is seen climbing the Ferris wheel in Santa Monica, claiming he has a bomb

He is seen climbing down, with police standing by to grab him and arrest him

The unnamed man has been detained by Santa Monic police and will face questioning

‘The #SantaMonica Pier is closed for police activity,’ police tweeted.

‘We have a subject who has climbed onto the Ferris wheel. The subject was heard by witnesses saying he has a bomb. 

‘Our officers are currently evacuating Pacific Park and the Pier and our Crisis Negotiation Team is contacting the subject who appears to be in crisis.’ 

Photos on social media showed a heavy police presence.

‘I can confirm that we have officers out on the Pier contacting a subject in Pacific Park,’ said Lt. Erika Aklufi, spokesperson for Santa Monica Police Department.

‘We are shutting down the pier to control access for officers.’ 

Santa Monica pier is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the Los Angeles area

Brooke Martelli from Salt Lake City and her son Ragnar Martelli, 10, on the Santa Monica pier on Monday

Brooke Martelli from Salt Lake City told DailyMail.com she was horrified to discover people were still on the Ferris Wheel.

‘There’s a mom on there with two small children. It’s so scary,’ she said. 

‘They have been on there for over a hour. Thank goodness we weren’t on the Ferris Wheel. 

‘We were going to go on it, but then we were told we had to leave the amusement park. This is crazy. I just worry about the young kids on there.’

The man was seen clinging to the main axle of the wheel, without any apparent harness.

It was unclear how he had managed to scale the structure.

A spokesperson for the police told KTLA 5 that the pier was ‘moderately busy’ at the time, pointing out it was a sunny day on the beach and crowds were out enjoying the good weather.