Local

Police arrest student after he was spotted on school roof

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — Police are still trying to figure out what made a man climb on top of the roof of a local high school while students were in class.
 
Dimitri Rollins, 22, faces charges of disruption with the operation of a public school and criminal trespass after Clayton County School Police say they found out him sitting on the roof of Morrow High School Monday morning.
 
"My teacher just stopped class and said there's a man on top of the roof," student Thomas Powell told Channel 2's Tom Jones.
 
It was around 8 a.m.
 
"Kids were in class and everything was going normal until we heard the footsteps on the roof," Capt. Rodney Crouch with the Clayton County Police Department said.
 
Crouch says he and School Police Chief Clarence Cox got on the roof and found Rollins there.
 
"He was sitting down. We located him on the roof. And he had no reason for being there," Crouch said.
 
That's when the school took precautions.
 
"We couldn't go in the hallways," Powell said.
 
Police said they located Rollins near the heating and cooling units. That got their interest since the school recently had copper stolen from the units, leaving some students in the cold.
 
Crouch was asked if Rollins is a suspect in that incident. 
 
"We are currently investigating that right now," he said.
 
The Fire Department used a ladder to get Rollins down.  Some parents couldn't believe someone would climb on the roof while kids were in class.
 
Police said Rollins may have been suffering from some mental episode.
 
A parent said this could have posed a danger to students.
 
"Yeah, it could have. Look at what's going on in the world now. Nobody is to be trusted these days," parent Tyann Arnold said.
 
The school system said no students or staff were in any danger.  The school did initiate its emergency plan for unknown intruders.
 
A spokeswoman said police were on the scene quickly and the incident lasted no longer than 35 minutes so there was no need to alert parents.
 
Rollins went before a judge where he received a $2,000 bond.