A "disoriented" suspect took to the rooftops after a woman accused him of burglarizing her North Park home Thursday evening, San Diego Police said.
Just before 7 p.m., the woman opened the door to her newly purchased townhome in the 2700 block of Adams Avenue to find her place ransacked.
She heard noises coming from the attic, so she called nearby friends, including Paul Hansen, to check out her home.
Hansen told NBC 7 when he opened her closed bedroom door, he spotted a hole in the ceiling with about five feet of insulation hanging down, though no one was in the room.
The real surprise came when he went to check in the bathroom.
"A gentleman popped out. He was under the sink somehow and really, I just saw him from the torso up with his hands just trying to pull himself out," said Hansen, "and when we saw him, we immediately ran out."
Hansen described the man as "disoriented" and said he kept telling them "I'm a veteran, I'm not going to hurt you."
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The homeowner and her friends soon called 911. As San Diego police officers arrived, the man climbed onto the complex's roof. Sgt. Carmelin Rivera said the man probably got in and out through a vent that leads down from the ceiling.
"We could see him on the roof, and he was kind of running around up there," said Hansen. "He jumped from one building all the way to the other side."
At the next building, police had him surrounded.
The police asked San Diego Fire to bring in a fire engine that could stretch a ladder to the building's roof. Officers were able to convince the man to come down on his own, and he was arrested without incident.
Rivera said the 27-year-old man will face a burglary charge. Investigators will also evaluate if he was under the influence at the time of the incident.
