SOUTH WILLIAMSBURG — A suspected bike burglar burst into tears when a resident who found him in his building's storage room called police, officials said.
The suspect was in the property storage room of a building on Bedford Avenue near South Third Street around 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 5 when a resident of the building found him, police said.
The would-be burglar tried to explain away his presence by telling the tenant he was allowed inside the room to sleep overnight because he was drunk, police said.
But the 39-year-old resident knew he was lying because he had been in the storage room 10 minutes earlier and hadn't spotted the suspect, police said.
When the resident and the suspect walked upstairs together, the tenant saw that the man was carrying a screwdriver, police said.
The resident then called the police, prompting the man to break down and start crying, police said.
"Don't do this to me," the man said, according to police.
The suspect then fled the property without his screwdriver or bag, police said.
A 32-year-old resident of the building later reported that his $1,000 road bike was missing from the storage room, police said.
The suspect — described as 25 years old, 5-foot-8 and 175 pounds — was last seen wearing a black baseball hat, blue shorts, black sandals and glasses, police said. He also had a scar on the right side of his face, police added.
Police are investigating the incident.
