Cleveland 19 obtains video of crook crawling through ceiling vent to commit crime

CLEVELAND, OH (WOIO) - A crook crawled through a ceiling vent to commit his crime in Ohio City this week.

Now, police are looking for the bold bandit.

Cleveland 19 obtained exclusive video of his rampage.

Crews are doing construction on the house behind the Ohio City Deli.

The thief apparently took some materials from the house to build a make-shift step ladder to get on the roof.

Somehow, from the roof, he fit through a vent. That’s where the surveillance video begins.

Cameras then catch his every move.

He took cash from the registers, and then he grabbed cigarettes from the front counter.

Police said he also stole a gun.

Lisa Eccleston said he must have been desperate.

“That’s a little bit to extreme measures to break into the corner store,” she said.

This kind of creative crime irked residents like Charlene Augustine.

“They go through vents. They go down chimneys today. They think it’s Christmas! They’ll do anything today to rob people,” Augustine said.

After the thief grabs everything he wanted in the deli, he tried to get out the back door, but couldn’t.

So, he busted a hole through the front door.

He crawled through the sharp shards of glass.. and took off.

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