Jessamine County Burglary Suspect

Police say a Jessamine County burglary suspect who likely hurt himself after falling through the ceiling of a pawn shop early Monday has been arrested, and police say he is the same man who went through the ceiling to burglarize a Lexington business earlier this year.

Officers responded to a burglar alarm at Sam's Check Cashing and Pawn Shop on Lexington Road around 1 a.m. Monday. They say they found a hole in the building roof and a mess inside. Police say infrared surveillance video revealed a man, now identified as Paul Masters, 48, crawling above the store's ceiling, dropping down to the floor, and looking over merchandise. After repeating the process several times, the burglar fell through the porcelain tiles and landed on the floor. Masters allegedly then pried open a door, cut some razor wire over a fence, and hopped over.

It remains unclear if Masters got away with anything.The previous burglary happened in March. Masters allegedly scrambled through the attic of a Lexington store. Police say he also gave them a hard time before they could make an arrest.Police say Masters was sneaking around in the attic of the Roses general store off of Winchester Road hadn't gotten around to doing whatever it was he planned to do from up there, when employees heard him moving about from above the tile ceiling, and called police.

Police swarmed the shopping center, and chased Masters through the attic. Police say Masters ran probably about 50 yards through the attic area before the ceiling gave way and he fell about 12 feet through the tile ceiling to the ground.

The original design of the (Newfoundland & Labrador) building featured slate tiles adorning the intricate roof structure. However, the stone tiles became a problem when they began falling off during windy weather shortly after the building opened in 2010.At one point, a falling tile nearly struck a person attending the courthouse. The Department of Transportation and Works had to erect safety fencing around the entire perimeter and build wooden structures around the entrances to the building.

The department also asked the original roofing contractor, Allied Constructors, to determine if there had been a flaw in the initial design or in the installation of the roof. Government also threatened to take legal action against the contractor if it didn’t remediate the problem.In the meantime, action is being taken (in late July) to put fibreglass shingles that resemble the original slate tiles. The tender for that was issued this past spring and has been awarded to a different contractor, BDW Roofing based in Stephenville.

“So, you will have a similar effect (as slate tiles), but with a fibreglass shingle,” said Davis. “We know that’s what is widely used in many buildings and houses throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. They are sort of time-tested.”More importantly, Davis said completing this work will mean the unsightly safety fencing and polished tiles will finally be removed.“That’s the plan,” he said. “We hope to have it all done, completed and cleaned up this year and have it back to a finished condition like we hoped to have back in 2010.”

The Culver Archaeological Project (CAP), supported to the tune of ￡90,900 by the Heritage Lottery Fund, has also discovered a circular kiln, possibly for firing tiles, and a sunken tile-lined basin – which the team is struggling to find anything to compare it to in Britain.

The six-week dig at the Roman settlement began last month and smaller discoveries include glass beads, coins, lead weights, a stylus for writing on a wax tablet, a ceramic spindle whorl and a complete lower quern stone.Also brooch and glass vessel fragments, Samian pottery with a maker’s mark and hundreds of pieces of pottery and tile fragments from the Roman period.

CAP Deputy Archaeological Director David Millum said it appeared the urn could possibly very late Romano British or even post-Roman as it sat above the main Roman features – and was caught by the bucket of the mechanical digger when clearing away the topsoils.