Man On Roof Leads To Long Weekend For Santa Cruz Police

SANTA CRUZ, CA — A call to Santa Cruz police Saturday about a man on a rooftop turned into a weekend-long event that ended with an arrest.

After much coaxing by Santa Cruz police officers, Zolli George Smith, 66, was taken into custody Sunday morning near the 2000 block of N. Pacific Avenue, according to the Santa Cruz Police Department.

The incident began Saturday when a man — later identified as Smith — had been spotted on a rooftop and Santa Cruz police were called. When officers attempted to make contact with him, he threw large rocks at them, according to the SCPD.

No officers were injured in the incident, and Smith eventually got off the roof and escaped in nearby dense brush, according to the SCPD.

On Sunday morning, officers returned to the area with the Santa Cruz Fire Department's ladder truck and a 40 mm less-lethal launcher. A police officer armed with the launcher climbed the ladder and got Smith's attention. After two hours of negotiation, Smith surrendered peacefully, according to the SCPD.

Smith, a transient and convicted felon on post-release community supervision, was arrested for assault and resisting arrest, according to the SCPD.