A dramatic police chase in Sydney's inner west involving up to 20 officers was finally brought to an end on a Petersham rooftop on Monday, with officers charging the lone man over the theft of a Maserati from Vaucluse a week earlier.
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Residents ventured out of their houses to watch the commotion as police from four different commands chased the man, 20, through the streets of Lewisham, just after 9am on Monday, according to police.
The chase began after officers from Ashfield Highway Patrol spotted the man riding in a taxi on Victoria Street, according to police.
When they tried to stop the car, the man allegedly jumped out and fled, and the officers gave chase.
"In the end there were probably about 15, 20 [police officers]," Sergeant Adam Solah of the Redfern Region Enforcement Squad said.
"He was too fast."
Police from Redfern Region Enforcement Squad, Marrickville Local Area Command, the Dog Squad and other Highway Patrol officers joined the pursuit but were forced to set up a second perimeter when the man escaped the first.
Sgt Solah said the man was well known to police through his involvement in a group that breaks into houses and steals high performance cars.
"He's been chased heaps of times," Sgt Solah said.
"When someone's in a block of units or a street block of houses, we set up on all four points of the block and try to secure that.
"But someone like [this] is smart. He knows that, so he'll just jump that perimeter and keep running as fast and as hard as he can."
Sgt Solah said officers chased the man for more than a kilometre through the suburban neighbourhood.
"Residents were coming out and pointing to him … He was climbing fences and jumping up onto roofs and over people's garages," he said.
"These ones always turn into a big scene like that. A lot of the time they get away, so it was good to get him. Especially him, because he's so fast."
The police finally caught up to the man on a roof in Sadlier Crescent, Petersham, about 9:25am. He was arrested and taken to Newtown Police Station.
The man has evaded authorities several times in recent weeks, according to police. He was allegedly involved in an aggravated break and enter in Burwood as well as a car chase with police on August 2. A week later, on August 9, the same man was allegedly caught riding in a 2015 Maserati Ghibli, stolen from a home in Vaucluse.
Sgt Solah said he and his companion ran out of petrol and were filmed going into the service station.
"That's how we got them: on the footage when they went to get the jerry can to fill it up," he said.
"A rookie error for these blokes. Normally they would never do that."
The 20-year-old will appear in Newtown Local Court today charged with numerous offences, including an aggravated break and enter in Burwood, police pursuit in a car and driving whilst disqualified in Lewisham, an aggravated break and enter in Vaucluse and riding in a stolen vehicle.
