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SALT LAKE CITY — Police arrested a suspected burglar Tuesday after they say he was found hiding in the rafters of a Salt Lake business and pretending not to hear them.
At 4:51 a.m., police received the call of a burglary at Mark Steel Corporation, 1230 W. 200 South. Officers and K-9 units found two backpacks filled with stolen property, but could not initially find the suspect in the large warehouse, said Salt Lake police detective Dennis McGowan.
"We thought they had simply got away," said Salt Lake Police Lt. Scott White.
Officers remained in the area and received a call just after 8 a.m. reporting that a man was on a beam, dangling about 20 to 30 feet off the ground near a crane in the rafters of the warehouse, McGowan said. Several units responded.
Employees used company equipment to hoist officers to the man. He was unresponsive.
"When we got there he certainly wasn't answering us so we thought maybe he had been electrocuted," White said, explaining that the man was close to active sources of electricity.
Officers called in medical crews who determined that there was nothing wrong with him.
"He was just pretending not to hear us," White said. "I think he was hoping we would just go away, which we weren't going to do."
The man seemed to be angry with police and would not tell them why he was in the rafters. Jace Painter, 34, was arrested for investigation of burglary and trespassing. According to White, Painter was still not talking to officers hours later.
Police suspect that an accomplice may have left the business before officers came on scene.
Contributing: Haley Smith
