HOUSTON -- Three suspected copper thieves were on the loose Tuesday after police caught them red-handed on a Houston roof.

Early in the morning, a patrol officer just happened to spot three people on the roof of an unoccupied building that used to be a bowling alley.

The officer pulled into the parking lot and called for backup.

Once his fellow officers arrived, the suspects jumped down the other side of the building and escaped, possibly in a car.

The officers climbed onto the roof and found a number of large tools commonly used to steal copper.

They said it appeared the thieves targeted several air conditioning units on the building.

A passerby said he saw a white van in the building’s parking lot earlier in the morning.  He said three people jumped out of it and scaled the building to the roof.