Intruder at Fox Theatre gets stuck trying to escape

ATLANTA — A break-in at the Fox Theatre brings plenty of Atlanta police officers.

At 86, Joe Patton is known as the Phantom of the Fox. Over the years, he's seen his fair share of drama from his perch above the famous theater.

Patton lives in an apartment inside the midtown theater.

Saturday morning, a real-life crime drama played out with no actors in sight when someone knocked out the window in his bedroom and came inside.

Patton told Channel 2's Ryan Young he got quite a shock.

"The surprise I got, there was a person here on the bed asleep. That surprised me quite a bit," Patton said.

In his apartment, surrounded by so much history, Patton told Young he and his dogs kept their cool even when he lost his balance and fell down his stairs.

The young intruder ran down the stairs but found himself stuck behind a few security gates.

Police said they and theatre staff found the intruder, Kevin Royal, 21, a Georgia Tech student, bleeding from the broken glass.

"I am OK. I wasn't alarmed," Patton said.

WSBTV