Suspect Plunges From Roof in Bid to Escape Police

A man sought on child molestation charges fell from an Escondido rooftop Saturday while attempting to evade police officers who were trying to serve him with an arrest warrant.

Glen Alan Patterson, 32, was listed in critical condition Saturday night at Palomar Memorial Hospital, where he was taken after a plunge from the top of an apartment building at 450 W. Vermont Ave.

Patterson was in his second-story apartment when Escondido police officers arrived at 6 a.m. with an arrest warrant from Monterey County Superior Court. He was wanted in connection with six counts of child molesting, a Police Department spokeswoman said.

Patterson reportedly fled to the roof and jumped over a ledge to a 7-foot overhang, where he lost his balance and fell another 18 feet to the ground. He suffered severe head injuries and multiple broken bones and has not regained consciousness, a hospital official said.