SUNGAI PETANI: A burglar kept police and residents at bay for nearly an hour after he fled to the rooftop of a house in Taman Ria Jaya here.

The burglar, in his 20s, threw roof tiles at anyone who tried to get to him.

Some 200 residents, voluntary patrol team members and policemen had surrounded the house he had earlier broke into with an accomplice.

None of the flying tiles hit their mark.

The situation was so tense that at one point, one of the policemen even whipped out his pistol when the thief picked up more tiles to hurl at them.

The standoff at 10pm on Tuesday lasted for nearly an hour before police managed to coax him down.

Many residents and passers-by also recorded the dramatic incident on their handphones.

The burglar, said to be "high" on cough mixture, was about to flee from the house when he and his accomplice were spotted by several passers-by.

His accomplice fled by motorcycle, leaving him behind to fend for himself.

Nobody knew how he managed to find his way up to the rooftop, and he only surrendered after police assured him that he would not be harmed by the crowd.

However, as he was being led to the police truck, he was repeatedly hit on the head by a man who was nearly struck by one of the "flying" tiles earlier.

A bag full of valuables was recovered from the rooftop.

Residents believe the two had committed burglaries in the area on several occasions prior to the incident.