Police body cameras show woman living in Family Fare sign

By Terry Camp

Click here for updates on this story

    MIDLAND, Michigan (WJRT) — Body camera footage from the Midland Police Department shows the moments when officers discovered a woman living inside the Family Fare supermarket sign in April.

The 34-year-old woman seemed very nonchalant about the situation and she was very cooperative when police found her in an enclosed area on the grocery store roof.

This all began when contractors doing work on the roof noticed something odd when it came to that sign.

“Cut it, we open it, she is just standing, she has a thermal blanket like keeping the cold out, that is her house,” the contractor told police.

He cut a string that prevented him from opening up a door to the inside of the Family Fare sign.

A Family Fare employee told an officer they have called police before about the woman, but she was always gone by the time they arrived. But not this time.

A police officer climbed the contractor’s ladder to get on the roof. The officer approached the door.

“Unlock it for me please,” a police officer asked the woman inside.

“Yeah, I was trying to get my stuff so I can get down right away, I am moving out of here in 24 hours to get away from all of this,” the woman told police after emerging from the sign.

“You are coming out right now,” responded the officer.

The woman obliged and explained that she would need some time to remove her belongings. She had a computer, a printer, coffee maker, clothes and other necessities inside the sign.

The woman explained she was trying to get away from certain people. As she packed up her things, the Midland officer explained what her nickname is

“Roof ninja,” the officer told her.

The woman laughed.

She eventually came out of her makeshift home with some of her belongings and climbed down the ladder, but never explained how she got up there.

Once down from the roof, the Family Fare employee explained why they had to call police.

“If we had something happened, if you fall, if there is a lawsuit situation, I cannot in good conscience allow you to be up on our roof,” the employee told the woman.

“I understand that and I would just like to add that I am one of those people where I would not make a lawsuit,” she told the store employee.

The woman was allowed to leave but she was warned that she would be arrested if she trespassed again. She said she was homeless.

“Shelters, nothing like that, you are not willing to go to any of those?” a police officer asked.

“I can’t go to those,” she replied.

The woman did have a job and she explained she was wearing all back, the ski mask and the googles because she was protecting her skin from the sun.

The Midland Police Department says she has not returned to the roof of the Family Fare.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.