FREMONT – A residential burglary suspect surrendered to officers Friday night after spending eight hours atop a five-story building under construction in Fremont, police said.
The episode started about 10:20 a.m. when a resident of either an apartment or a condominium on Warm Springs Boulevard caught a man in the act of burglarizing her home, said Fremont police spokeswoman Geneva Bosques, adding that he entered the home through a window.
Bosques said the resident screamed after confronting the intruder, which prompted a neighbor to call police. The suspect darted out of the residence, she added, and from there he climbed to the top of the building under construction.
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The suspect “physically assaulted” the victim, police said in a social media post. She was shaken but didn’t need medical attention.
The man, who is known in the area, was spotted at the construction site by a detective, according to police.
“We had several witnesses who quickly called, and a detective saw him enter the building under construction,” police said in a social media post.
Police used two drones, which they called a “tremendous resource” in their bid to resolve the situation peacefully. The drones allowed police to monitor the suspect safely from a distance.
Fremont fire crews, along with a tactical emergency medic team, joined police at the building.
Around 3:30 p.m., the suspect was sitting on the roof of the building and speaking with negotiators, Bosques said. Earlier, he had been walking around the roof, and he threw a fire extinguisher, gas cans and hammers at officers, police said in a social media post.
The suspect also lit a rag on fire and poured gasoline on the roof, according to police.
Around 7:30 p.m., the suspect told officers he would come down and was safely taken into custody by officers. He was allegedly found armed with a large knife and a torch.
Bosques said authorities are not going to publicly identify the man because he was put on a psychiatric hold at John George Psychiatric Hospital in San Leandro after he was arrested. She said authorities plan to book the man into jail and file charges against him once that hold ends.
