"Im confused as to how the police expect us to help them when they don't give us any info to go on"
You are confusing yourself unnecessarily. The police are not asking for your help in this case. Only the last line of the news report even hints at it, but is not an appeal for information.
If you saw someone scampering across rooftops on that day, with a police helicopter and a number of ground units in pursuit, you might have wondered what was going on. That is what the newspaper is addressing.
If you saw where the renegade went and wanted to tell police, nothing is stopping you. If you really need them to ask, I question whether you would be likely to help in the first place. In my area, a person running across rooves would be memorable. Does "the suspect was wearing a blue shirt and black hat" make it stand out more?
Don't mix up a newspaper printing an incident number with a police appeal for public help.