Police in Fresno, Calif., used to handing out parking tickets for illegally parked cars, had an unusual case on their hands Wednesday morning when they were called to respond to a car parked squarely on the roof of an apartment building.

Even more stunned than the police by the startling image was the family inside the apartment.  They called 911 after being awakened around 1:30 a.m. by falling debris and smoke.

"We just looked on the roof because saw stuff falling and stuff smoking. So we looked in there and my cousin was like, 'It's a car on the roof,'" Ralph White, a family member inside the apartment, told ABC affiliate KFSN-TV.   "And she was like, 'Go get somebody.' So I ran to my neighbor's house and then told her and she called the police."

Police arrived to find White, his family and neighbors gawking at the site, but no sign of the car's driver.   The driver was later found a quarter of a mile away from the site, but not because he had been thrown from the car in the crash.

Fresno police say 26-year-old Benjamin Tucker stole the car from a nearby house and was likely speeding when he hit a curb or rocks that sent the car flying onto the roof.  He then jumped from the roof and fled the scene.

Tucker already had two outstanding warrants for his arrest when police found him.  He also faces charges of hit-and-run and evading a police officer.

The only injury reported in the crash landing was that of Tucker, who suffered a broken leg when making his escape from the roof.

KFSN-TV reports the roof of the apartment building will need repairs, but White's apartment did not suffer any interior damage.

The vehicle's precarious position atop the building required a special crane be brought in by a tow truck company in order to remove it from the roof.