A man climbed on to the roof of a Cardiff house before ripping off tiles and throwing them on to the street below.
A car on the street has been left with smashed windows while there is a large hole in the roof where the tiles were torn off during a six-hour stand-off with armed police.
The man forced his way into a semi-detached house on Dickens Avenue in Llanrumney at around 9pm then appears to have torn his way through the roof from the attic below.
Witnesses said police officers even resorted to buying a McDonalds burger to entice the man down from his precarious position on the rooftops of two Cardiff Council properties.
Hayley O'Brien, who lives at the property, was out at the time, during which he tore roof tiles off and threw them with such force they smashed the windows of a car below.
She said she arrived home after a night out to find the man "hanging out the attic", having ripped the tiles and felting right down to the rafters.
Luckily, her two children, aged eight and 11, were staying with family members at the time, but it was a huge shock for her.
"It was disgusting — he broke into my house and the police ended up bringing him a McDonalds," she said.
Lucia Scaccia, who was staying at the next door property said she came home from a 12-hour shift to find her partner's car smashed and the man moving on to the roof.
Armed police were swarming the street outside the two houses trying to talk the man, who kept asking for the McDonalds burger, down.
Miss Scaccia, 22, who was visiting the address with her 11-month old baby to see her partner Michael Haines, said the incident was "crazy".
She said: "He had broken into next door and punched a hole in the attic and then through the roof and started throwing the tiles down.
"He was throwing them so hard they were landing in the ground sticking out - he could have killed someone.
"His aim was getting closer and closer to the cars, and then he hit my car, and now I've got a smashed windscreen and two smashed windows."
Miss Scaccia, a care assistant, said her immediate thought was to get out of the house with her son, but she wasn't allowed outside by police because of fears she might get hit by tiles.
Police officers were called at 9.30pm but waited for back-up before they tried to enter the property.
"He was asking for a McDonalds so they went and got him one," added Miss Scaccia.
"They left the meal at the top of the stairs of the house and they planned to get him when he climbed down but he could see them through the hole in the attic.
"I'd just finished a 12-hour shift and I was planning to go to bed. Instead, I ended up staying awake all night."
Police officers armed with tasers arrived to help, but in the end the man was talked down without their use at 3.30am.
A spokesman for South Wales Police said: "Police attended at an address in Dickens Avenue, Llanrumney, at approximately 9.30pm on August 9, 2019, following reports that man had unlawfully entered the address and was making threats.
"Following lengthy negotiations, to ensure the safety of themselves and the subject and to prevent further damage to property the officers entered the attic space to detain the man at approximately 3.30am.
"A 39 year-old man was arrested in connection with affray and breaching a restraining order and was taken into custody where he remains."
The rooftop was left with significant damage and a gaping hole exposing the rafters. Cardiff Council are unable to carry out any repair works over the weekend while the weather conditions are so poor.
It means Miss O'Brien has had to stay with a friend while investigations are carried out by police and the damage is fixed.
Miss Scaccia said she is also worried about the possibility of a leak coming into her partner's bedroom while she waits for the damage to be fixed.
Fire crews attended the properties on Saturday to make the roof safe in the interim.
A Cardiff Council spokeswoman said: "We are aware of an incident in Llanrumney in the early hours that resulted in damage caused to two homes. Emergency repairs operatives attended today to assess the damage and found only one of the roofs to be leaking. Action was taken to make the roofs safe and permanent repairs will be carried out in due course.
"Temporary accommodation at a family hostel was offered to the household affected by the leaking roof in the early hours but this was declined.
"Both households affected by this incident have been provided with out of hours contact numbers for emergency accommodation if they are unable to remain at home."
