Police Use Cat To Coax Car Theft Suspect Down From San Francisco Building Ledge
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – Police lured a suspect who ran from a CHP traffic stop and threatened to jump from a building in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood down from a ledge with a little help from a feline.
Around 6:15 p.m., the man was led safely back inside the building on 10th Street near Harrison Street before being taken into custody. The man had dangled from a window for more than three hours.
He was driving a white Toyota Highlander when a CHP officer pulled him over at 2:41 p.m. around the corner on Dore Street, but while the officer was taking down information, the man ran from the stop, according to CHP Officer Vu Williams.
Officers later learned that the Highlander had been reported stolen, Williams said.
The driver jumped a fence and into the two-story building on 10th Street near Harrison. He emerged from a second-story window shirtless and barefoot, threatening to jump.
Police shut down 10th Street and have climbed the fire escape and are trying to talk the man down, according to San Francisco police. They have set up large foam mats on the ground and are pointing less than lethal projectiles at him.
His family brought his cat to the scene, which reportedly helped to calm the man down.
Police spokeswoman Officer Grace Gatpandan said he might be in an "altered state."
The suspect's name has not been released.
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