A 34-year-old woman was discovered living on a sign on the roof of a Michigan supermarket, and inside the compact space she lived in for about a year was a mini-desk, flooring, clothing, food storage, and a printer. , houseplants, the police said there were.
Midland Police Department spokesperson Brenon Warren told USA TODAY that a contractor working on the roof of the Family Fare Supermarket in Midland struck a woman living on the sign on April 23. It is said that it was discovered in
“(The contractor) observed an extension cord running from one of the rooftop units to this particular sign where she lived,” Warren said.
Warren said the sign at the Family Fair where the woman lived was “not your average sign” and was different from “what you’d see on the Target or Walmart side.” Officers said there is a 10- to 15-foot-tall cavity on the roof of the supermarket where a sign is placed and a 3-by-4-foot access door behind the sign.
“It’s definitely big enough to fit in,” Warren said.
How did Midland Police get the woman to leave the sign?
When the contractors found the woman, they alerted the supermarket’s management, who then alerted Midland police, Warren said. When officers went up to the roof to talk to the woman, “she came right up to the door and said, ‘Don’t worry, I’m on my way,'” the spokesperson said.
Officers did not formally charge the woman, but she was trespassed on the property, Warren said. She added that the woman “fully understood and agreed that she would not return.”
Midland police also provided the woman with information about services available in the area to help with housing issues, but Warren said she “didn’t want any of them.”
“We are proud of our employees.”
A spokeswoman said the woman removed the supermarket sign the same day, but had to leave some of her property behind because she “couldn’t take everything home.” Warren said the store has a connection with the woman and is helping her move her remaining belongings.
“We are proud of our employees who handled this situation with the utmost compassion and professionalism,” the Family Fare supermarket chain said in an emailed statement to USA TODAY. “Ensuring sufficient safe and affordable housing continues to be a widespread problem across the country that requires our communities to work together to solve it.”
A woman called the “Ninja on the Rooftop”
People call her the “rooftop ninja” because she lived inside the sign for about a year, evading detection, Warren said.
A spokesperson said: “People would sometimes see her and then she would suddenly disappear.” She said: “No one knew where she went, but no one suggested or thought she was on the roof.”
Warren said police don’t know how the woman got on the roof so often, and she hasn’t told police how she did it.
“I have never seen a situation like this in my 10-year career here at Midland,” a spokesperson said. I wish you luck.”
