Tulsa 'Rooftop Burglar' Arrested While Sneaking Out Of Business

Tulsa police served a search warrant at the house of a man who is suspected of burglarizing more than a dozen businesses.

Now, they've recovered much of what he's stolen and they're tasked with rifling through it all.

7/28/2017 Related Story: Serial 'Rooftop Burglar' May Have Targeted More Than 20 Businesses, TPD Says

Police say the "rooftop burglar" Rory Parker got "greedy," trying to make off with $100,000 worth of products from Tulsa Gold And Silver.

But officers caught him leaving out the back door.

"They got into a little foot chase with him and were able to take him into custody," TPD Corporal Larry Mark said.

Police say he was smarter than their average burglar, entering through the roofs of east Tulsa businesses to avoid tripping security alarms.

"We suspect him of doing 20 or more commercial burglaries over the past few months," Mark said.

After his arrest, police served a search warrant at his house, where they found antiques, and lots of cell phones and other electronics, plus an autographed picture of Troy Aikman.

"Oh yeah, he's been busy. He's been busy," Mark said. "The search warrant that we had to go through today to get to the residence and to recover this stuff. It all takes time and energy and a lot of effort."

Parker is in jail on multiple complaints, including second-degree burglary and grand larceny.

Police say from those five businesses alone, he's suspected of stealing $110,000 worth of products.

That money includes the damage he caused to the air conditioning units he sneaked in through.

As for the other businesses he's suspected of burglarizing, police say they have no way of knowing just how much it's all worth.

"I wouldn't be able to guess, because I know we haven't recovered everything yet," Mark said.

Police expect the number of rooftop burglaries to go down now, but they urge business owners to get high-quality security cameras and to put serial numbers on all their products.