Video: Punk pays the price after cops catch him crawling above department store ceiling

"It was at this moment he knew he screwed up," a narrator says at the start of a Vancouver, Washington, police bodycam video showing a suspect falling from the ceiling of a local department store late last month.

Police said officers responded on Sept. 30 to the Vancouver Mall after employees reported that a male was crawling around in the ceiling and breaking through ceiling tiles.

'Wow! They subdued Tarzan, grunts and all.'

Police said officers gave the male multiple commands to come down, but he kept moving through the ceiling, breaking more tiles and damaging lights, wiring, and other fixtures.

The second floor was evacuated while officers and firefighters tried to get the suspect down, police said.

Finally, a ladder was placed in the ceiling, and a mattress was placed on the floor in case the suspect fell, police said.

After more than an hour of trying to talk him into coming down, police said the suspect finally stepped upon the ladder.

However, police said the suspect then tried to climb back into the ceiling — but officers weren't having it and pulled the ladder away to keep him from going back up into the ceiling.

And down he went.

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Police said the suspect landed on the mattress, but he had no intention of being led away quietly.

Instead, police said he got up and tried to run off.

"That didn’t work out so well," police noted.

The suspect, Gabriel Hideo, was taken into custody, police said — amid frequent growls as he fought being handcuffed, according to the video.

Hideo was soon booked for:

• Malicious mischief in the first degree
• Burglary in the first degree
• Felony warrant

A few hundred commenters under the police department's video of the incident — which hilariously includes A-ha's "Take On Me" as background music — had way too much fun reacting to the bizarre arrest.

• "Was his name John Bender?? Was he making a ruckus???" one commenter wondered in a not-so-subtle nod to 1980s flick "The Breakfast Club."
• "Wow! They subdued Tarzan, grunts and all," another user added. "And the music choice? Bonus points. Serious bonus points. Well done, VPD."
• "He sounds possessed, great job VPD!" another commenter exclaimed.
• "Made it a ways down into the comments, and not one complaint about excessive force so far. I'm impressed!" another user said.

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