A man who became entangled in a police stand-off outside his home as a suspected burglar hid in his neighbour’s garden has described the moment he spoke to the suspect.
Police cornered a man, who was carrying a knife, as he clambered onto a garage roof in Christie Drive, South Norwood, on Tuesday afternoon.
The incident unfolded as officers chased a knifeman along Davidson Road following reports of a burglary at about 3pm.
Terry Booth, a conservation worker, said he spotted the man, who told him: “I’m in trouble, bruv,” in his next door neighbour’s back garden.
The 57-year-old said he only noticed the suspect was nearby when his dog, Oddball, started barking at the hedge that separated the two houses.
Terry Booth, 57, pictured with his dog Oddball - a Staffordshire bull-terrier cross
Mr Booth, of Christie Drive, said: “It wasn't until the dog ran into the fence and started barking that I realised something was going on.
“I was in the garden and saw he was in my neighbour's garden from over the fence.
“At first I thought it was my neighbour, but he said 'I'm in trouble, bruv', and then I said 'I can't help you'.
“I quickly brought the dog in at that point, and then he [the suspect] climbed over the fences and ended up on the roof.
“I think he might have been scared to jump over the fence because of the dog, because once we were inside that’s when he went for it.”
Having leapt over garden fences, the suspect sat on the top of a garage roof, still in Christie Drive, that was visible from Mr Booth’s home.
Mr Booth's picture of the burglary suspect, seen wearing a white glove and using his mobile phone
Mr Booth said the man, who remained on the roof for four hours before he came down and was arrested, was making calls on his mobile.
A suspect, a black male wearing a hood and a baseball cap, was said to be threatening to jump off or harm himself.
The suspect was arrested shortly before 8pm at taken to a south London police station, where he remains, for questioning.
Did you see what happened in Christie Drive? Email sean.morrison@london.newsquest.co.uk
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