Shirtless burglar arrested on roof of business he was trying to rob, authorities say
A would-be burglar who recently tried to rob a Florida convenience store got stuck on the roof instead, according to authorities.
The Volusia County Sheriff's Office released body camera footage of the incident, which shows the shirtless man stranded on the roof of the store.
The incident happened Saturday morning at the Woodland Food Mart in DeLand, Florida, about 45 miles north of Orlando, authorities said.
As the video begins, the store owner points toward the roof of the building, telling a deputy that he saw a man's head pop over the ledge of the roof, saying, "I'm dying. I need help."
The deputy then calls for backup and emergency assistance, saying, "I don't know how long this guy's been up here."
When the deputy calls up to the man, asking how he got on the roof, the man says he climbed up the back wall.
"The only way in which someone could get on the roof appeared to be a tree near a small shed," the arrest report states.
As firefighters arrive with a ladder long enough to reach the roof, the man swings his legs over the ledge, in an apparent attempt to jump. Multiple deputies instruct him to "go back" and that they're "coming."
Deputies decided to climb to the roof because 31-year-old New Smyrna resident Michael Monacelli, refused to come to the ledge to speak to them, according to an arrest report.
A deputy then climbs the ladder, finding the shirtless suspect sitting on the ledge, looking onto the activity below him. Deputies then investigate the roof before asking the man why he was up there.
"I needed water," the man replied.
Monacelli made a "spontaneous utterance" to deputies, saying he "tried to break a window to the business and enter to get something to drink," the arrest report states. Monacelli then said he climbed onto the roof when he couldn't get into the business, according to the report.
Once back on the ground, an EMT hands the man a bottle of water, and he is handcuffed after taking a few sips, the video shows.
The officers then accuse him of "trying to break into a business" while it was closed.
"I didn't know what was going on," the man says. "I couldn't breathe."
But, the deputies weren't buying it.
"You've had that water for almost 30 minutes, and you've only had two sips of it," one deputy says.
Monacelli indicated to deputies that he'd been on a the roof for about an hour and a half, according to the report. He received medical treatment at a local hospital before he was taken to the Volusia County Jail.
He was charged with criminal mischief and attempted burglary of an unoccupied conveyance, jail records show.
The store owner has asked that Monacelli be barred from the business, authorities said.
The sheriff's office also thanked the Volusia County Professional Firefighters Association for bringing a ladder.
