Burglar Hits Ceiling, Captured
by Rod Hughes
Work accidents happen, even on the other side of the law.
A thief climbed to the roof of El Gollo home furnishing store in San Pedro Tuesday night, removed a couple of sheets of tin roofing and lowered himself to the ceiling of the showroom.
But police say he had not calculated what his weight might do. In this case, he passed right on through the ceiling, falling to the floor. (Even most commercial buildings in Costa Rica tend to be lightly built, since insulation against cold winters is not a factor.)
But his troubles were just beginning—he could not get out the hole he had made without bringing more of the the ceiling down on him and the doors were locked from the outside.
Police say that he philosophically settled down in an easy chair and turned on one of the TV sets in stock. He was calmly talking on the telephone when police arrived.
He had a police record of previous alleged thefts, the daily La Nación reported.