An armed burglar leaped off the roof of a Nob Hill building Saturday — and managed to survive — after jumping from roof to roof in an attempt to give San Francisco police the slip.
Officers responded to reports of a burglary on the 1300 block of Pacific Avenue around 8:45 a.m., Sgt. Michael Andraychak said.
Soon thereafter, a second burglary was reported on the 1500 block of Leavenworth Street. Andraychak said the suspect — believed to be a man in his 30s — broke into the building, held a man at gun point, and fled. It is unclear if the burglary suspect stole anything from the victim.
Officers arrived on the scene and found the suspect, but he pointed his firearm at the officers. While they ordered him to drop the gun, he ran away. No shots were fired, Andraychak said.
As officers chased the burglar, he broke into a building on the 1300 block of Pacific Avenue and led them through the building onto the roof, according to Andraychak. Police said he ditched luggage, that was later determined to have been stolen, on the roof.
The man then jumped from one building’s roof to the next, heading toward Pacific and Hyde streets, where he dropped his gun on the roof. It has since been collected as evidence, Andraychak said.
The suspect then jumped off the roof, which was three or four floors above the ground, and fell through a tree and landed on an Audi parked below, Andraychak said. The man then tumbled from the car onto the sidewalk.
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A San Francisco Fire Department was driving by the scene and was flagged down by officers to treat the suspect. He was transported to San Francisco General Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, Andraychak said.
"He broke in the door, went across a couple of roofs to the corner building, and tried to jump on the tree — that's when he fell," Steve Stevens said. "I don’t know what kind of damage he got, but he was taken away on a stretcher."
Police believe the suspect may have been trying to grab ahold of a branch, but it snapped and he plummeted to the ground below.
Once released from hospital, Andraychak says the man will likely face a litany of charges, including multiple burglaries, false imprisonment, assault with a deadly weapon, using a firearm in the commission of a felony, and resisting arrest.
NBC Bay Area's Christie Smith contributed to this report.
