Burglary suspect found hiding in ceiling of Md. movie theater

GREENBELT, Md. (WJLA) - An unnamed burglary suspect is lucky to be alive after leading police on a wild chase that ended in of all places -- a movie theater ceiling.

Authorities say Tuesday investigators had the suspect under surveillance in the Laurel area and watched him break into a car and a home.

Police tailed him to an apartment complex across from the Beltway Plaza Mall in Greenbelt.

While moving in for the arrest police say the suspect chucked a television set at officers, sprinted across the street and into the mall where he ran into an empty movie theater.

Prince George's County Police Chief Hank Stawinski says, “When he entered he was able to access scaffolding and he found himself in the roof of the theater where he had no exit because concrete blocks went all the way to the steel roof.”

The man stood on water pipes and ceiling tiles. Some of the tiles came crashing down onto the floor of the theater. Medical personnel were on stand-by concerned the suspect would fall through the ceiling and land in the theater.

Police negotiators climbed a ladder, talked face to face with the man who agreed to come down, uninjured, three hours later.

The suspect now faces a number of charges.

This story will be updated.