Chutist Hurt in 36-Story Leap

Joseph Walker, a self-described sport jumper, knew something was amiss soon after he leaped from a 36-story building in downtown Los Angeles today. “I looked up, and the parachute was only three-fourths open,” Walker said. “I knew I was going to hit hard. Then I hit--very hard.”

Walker, 27, suffered a chipped heel bone and a compressed vertebra after his 1:30 a.m. jump from the WCT building at 1100 Wilshire Blvd. He was treated at Good Samaritan hospital and released. Police questioned him at the hospital, but chose not to arrest Walker--at least for now. Walker, a construction worker from Chandler, Ariz., said the hard landing won’t daunt him. “I’d like to do the World Trade Center (in New York) or the Sears Tower (in Chicago),” he said.