It was a scene of quiet turmoil and confusion on Street 19 last night as 30 to 40 people gathered in an alley next to Treez restaurant to catch a glimpse of the body of a man who allegedly jumped to his death from an adjacent house.

Several men in the crowd pointed to the third storey of the house from which, according to a witness who asked to remain anonymous, the man had jumped after several police officers on the ground pleaded with him to climb down.

An officer at the scene said the deceased man had been caught on the ledge while attempting to break into the residence. “We told him to come down, but he did not, so we opened fire into the air two or three times to threaten him,” the Daun Penh district police officer said.

“I was in my room and heard a loud noise,” the witness said. About two minutes later, he had gone on to his balcony and had seen the man on the ledge jump to his death, he said.

But varying stories of how the alleged thief actually died floated through the crowd, with some claiming he was first shot by police.

One witness said the deceased was a well-known figure in the neighborhood who was frequently seen walking while wearing headphones.