Abbeville burglar escapes police by roof, tree jumping

Henry County authorities are looking for a burglar who apparently escaped law enforcement after he jumped from the roof of an Abbeville grocery to a nearby tree, which he climbed down before running from officers.

According to a statement from the Henry County Sheriff’s Office and Abbeville Police Task Force, officers are looking for information in the burglary at the Food Giant grocery that happened around 11:45 p.m. Saturday. As officers arrived at the grocery, located on West Washington Street near the courthouse, they saw someone inside the store. The task force statement said the burglar escaped onto the roof of the grocery through the air vents and jumped to a nearby tree.

A K-9 tracking team from the Ventress state prison searched several hours for the burglar without success.

Investigators believe the burglary initially made a 911 call reporting a robbery at the Subway in Abbeville.

Anyone with information about the burglary can call Crime Stoppers at 585-5200.