Business owner: Burglar dead after fall through ceiling
The owner of a Chinese restaurant and grocery in east Columbia said he found an apparent burglar dead in his kitchen when he went inside his business Monday morning.
Columbia police were sent to the Hong Kong Market and ABC Chinese Cuisine at about 9 a.m. Monday. Columbia Police Department Lt. Matt Stephens said a death investigation was being conducted at the business. Police were trying to determine how the person died and who the person is, Stephens said.
Stephens did not release details about the dead person including age. The dead person was male, he said.
The body was found near the door inside the restaurant side of the building, Stephens said.
The owner of the business, Ming Sun Wong. said he found the man’s body when he arrived Monday. He showed ABC 17 News where he says the man fell through the ceiling in the restauarant’s kitchen. Blood was on the floor and drops of blood were visible on fallen ceiling tile.
The owner said someone had also tried to get inside the building on Sunday but that attempt was not successful. He said he came in Monday to find the man on the kitchen floor with a pool of blood around his head.
Police used a fire department ladder truck to view and take photos of the building’s roof.
The restaurant said in a Facebook post that it would be closed Monday because of a death and referenced a burglary.
The call came over emergency radio as a structure collapse but firefighters on the scene quickly determined there was no collapse and called police. Columbie Fire Department spokesman Brad Fraizer said the department was called for a collapse but determined there wasn’t one. The incident is now a police matter, he said.
Crime scene tape was up and several Columbia Police Department officers and the department’s crime scene investigation van was at the scene. A ambulance was initially at the scene but left without lights and sirens on.
Check back for more on this developing story.
