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After hearing someone break into the unit next door, a woman rushed to the roof of her home in Venice this morning only to find that she was being trailed by the suspect.
Transient breaks into home. Girl races to roof, and so does he. She's petrified & half naked, he finally complied. pic.twitter.com/wrq7PbEFqj
— Venice 311 (@Venice311) September 24, 2014
LAPD Officer Liliana Preciado told LAist that the incident occurred around 8:50 a.m. at a two-unit apartment on the 200 block of Windward Avenue. The woman told authorities that she heard the man break into an empty unit next door. She climbed to her rooftop and called authorities. The suspect later followed her onto the rooftop as well.
Police arrived at the scene and detained the man and are now in the process of booking him. They did not release his name nor the charges he was facing. Nobody was hurt in the incident.
Venice 311 first tweeted out photos of the incident, which showed the woman crouching on the roof with the man standing behind her. Venice 311 described the man as a transient; however, LAPD said that they cannot confirm this as it's an ongoing investigation.
Hope she is calling 1-800-THE-LAW pic.twitter.com/RMhSmEVLUz
— Venice 311 (@Venice311) September 24, 2014
Victim had no pants on- LAPD covered for her so she could get down to safety. pic.twitter.com/Vk9W2BXfjA
— Venice 311 (@Venice311) September 24, 2014
Update 9/25, 11:03 a.m.: Melora Rivera told CBS Los Angeles more details about the incident involving suspect, Christian Hicks, 29, who allegedly broke into her home:
“He managed to break one of these panels and reach in to unlock the door,” Rivera said. “Once I saw him in the house, I knew that we both couldn’t be there. I knew that I didn’t want to have a confrontation with him of any sort, you know, not knowing what his intention was.”
LAPD and LAFD quickly helped Rivera off of her roof and got Hicks to surrender.
Neighbors described Hicks as a "well-known homeless man." One person had called police earlier that day at 7:30 a.m. for wandering into their yard. However, when officers detained Hicks, they had to let him go because the caller would not identify Hicks in person.
Hicks was charged with burglary and is held on $50,000 bail.
