9 hours later, SWAT officers talk man down from roof of Midtown home

SWAT officers talked a man down from the roof of a Midtown home after more than nine hours of negotiations Friday.

The unidentified man had been on the roof of a home in the 300 block of 4th Street since 5:15 a.m., police said. He is charged with prowling, but Atlanta police said additional charges are possible.

Atlanta police had closed multiple streets during the negotiations.

Argonne Avenue was blocked between Ponce de Leon Avenue and 5th Street, and 4th Street was blocked between Penn Avenue and Durant Place.

Resident Eric Johnson told AJC.com the man climbed up to his neighbor’s roof after breaking into his duplex early Friday morning. Nothing was stolen.

“Around 5:15 a.m., the guy smashed out the back window in the kitchen and entered the house,” Johnson said. “He was in the living room, we think, when my little dog freaked out on the guy. I guess he got scared and dove out of the sunroom window and vaulted the fence.”

A police spokesman said officers were called to the scene and found the man sitting on the roof.

A man was on the roof of this home in the 300 block of 4th Street since 5:15 a.m. Friday. SUZANNE VAN ATTEN / SUZANNE.VANATTEN@AJC.COM

Johnson said the man startled his 19-year-old daughter, who saw him just as he made the 6-foot drop from the sunroom window to the courtyard below.