That (allegedly) thieving dude we discussed yesterday, the one who was chased until he jumped a wall and found himself on a sheer, brush-covered cliff on the eastern side of Telegraph Hill, remains stubbornly on that cliff more than 36 hours later hoping cops will just go away. Police have been reluctant to go in after him out of concern for their own safety, and because of a 2008 incident in which a thief fell to his death from a cliff at the end of nearby Alta Street while running from cops himself.

We have a few more details now about the crime that occurred before his unfortunate, lofty predicament. The Chron reports that around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday a neighbor reported seeing a burglar breaking in to a woman's apartment near Lombard and Kearny. And it was, in fact, the building manager who chased the guy before police became involved. The burglar hopped a back wall of the property and found himself on this cliff above Chestnut Street.

Neighbors in the area report hearing the "defiant" thief repeatedly telling cops, "Go away. Leave me alone. I'm not coming down." But how long can this go on? After a hostage negotiator failed to persuade the guy to surrender, police pulled back from their perimeter below the cliff Wednesday evening, saying that they don't want the guy to die trying to get away from them. They are now just making regular patrols and monitoring the neighborhood above the cliff.

The thief is believed to have a stolen ring in his possession, and he remains, perched, as of this morning.

UPDATE: The suspect escaped from the hill after police left the scene.

[Chron]
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