Photo: Contributed - sfgate.com

After San Francisco police officers spent three hours unsuccessfully trying to talk down a suicidal man on a window ledge, they switched to a more effective negotiator: the man's cat.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that hostage negotiators were trying to reassure a suspected car thief who was threatening to jump from a South of Market building Wednesday evening.

Once the negotiators brought out the distraught man's orange-and-white cat, they were able to persuade him to come down and surrender.

Police spokesman Officer Albie Esparaza says using the cat was "ingenious."

Officers brought the cat to the man after he was handcuffed and taken to a police car, allowing him to see his beloved pet before going to jail.