Dogged police work brings down would-be Spiderman in South End break-in spree

Boston Police report the man who broke into several residences along Dwight Street in the South End last night kept finding himself confronted by residents before he finally tried running away across their rooftops.

Cornered in an apartment at 29 Dwight St., Stanley Zalewski, 27, gave up when he heard a police dog on the way up, police say. After he was treated for gashes on his hands and feet, he was booked on charges of breaking and entering, home invasion, willful and malicious destruction of property and kidnapping.

According to police, a resident of 57 Dwight St. called police around 8:20 p.m. to report somebody trying to break into units there:

On arrival, officers spoke with victim #1 who stated that he heard a loud banging noise coming from the rear of his residence. The victim stated that when he went to investigate the source of the loud noise, he encountered a white male (herein referred to as the suspect) banging on his door and asking for entry into his residence. According to the victim, the suspect stated, "Let me in! Someone is following me!" To which, the victim replied, "I can't let you in but I can call 911 for you." At this point, the victim says the suspect jumped a fence into his neighbor’s patio and took off.

Over the next several minutes, police say, Zalewski broke into two units at 55 Dwight:

According to victim #3, the suspect pushed his way into his apartment and stated, "I'm not going to hurt you but the police are chasing me and I need to get on your roof so unlock your skylight so I can get up there!" According to victim #3, he quickly pointed the suspect in the direction of the skylight and then watched the suspect exit his residence through the skylight as he was able to gain access to the roof.

Officers chased Zalewski across rooftops - stopping from time to time to try to break into additional apartments, until he finally got to 29 Dwight Street, where he gained entry to the vacant unit, police say.

Once inside, the suspect refused to come out. A K-9 unit was called to the scene to assist in apprehending the suspect. While the suspect was still inside the location, a neighbor approached police and told them he had the phone number for the residence being occupied by the suspect. When officers called the number, the suspect answered and stated, "I have a drug problem. Please don't send the police dog in here with me. I'll give up peacefully."

Innocent, etc.