It’s not every day that someone tries to shimmy down a chimney — but unless it’s Christmas and that person is Santa Claus, it’s a questionable activity.
Very questionable, if you’re the man who was caught Saturday morning after attempting to enter a house in Montgomery County, Maryland, by sneaking in through the chimney.
At around 3:30 a.m., the resident of a home in Silver Spring heard some strange noises that he thought were coming from outside the home, and he called police.
When the officers arrived, they didn’t find anything, so they left.
About an hour later, the resident heard more sounds — but this time, it was moaning coming from the wall above the fireplace.
When officers arrived again, they noticed that the top of the chimney had been removed — and discovered a man was stuck inside the brick chimney.
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Soon, firefighters arrived to free the man — who was identified as “not a resident” of the house by the fire department and later a would-be robber by police, according to WTOP-FM — and it took 24 of them, working inside and outside, to free him.
In order to extract the man, first responders had to cut open the wall and then remove the bricks one at a time until they could access the intruder.
“Technical Rescue, Dameron Dr & Forest Glen Rd, Forest Glen/Silver Spring,” Pete Piringer of Montgomery County Fire and Rescue tweeted Saturday.
“Single family house, man stuck in chimney, assisting police … AT719, A742, RS742, PE719, EMS703, SA700, C700 on scene.”
(6a) Technical Rescue, Dameron Dr & Forest Glen Rd, Forest Glen/Silver Spring, @MontgomeryCoMD Single family house, man stuck in chimney, assisting police, @mcfrs AT719, A742, RS742, PE719, EMS703, SA700, C700 on scene pic.twitter.com/61xIUFkDWt
— Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO) January 8, 2022
“Update – Dameron Dr, Silver Spring, extrication in process, man stuck in chimney,” Piringer tweeted a little later.
Update – Dameron Dr, Silver Spring, extrication in process, man stuck in chimney, @MontgomeryCoMD https://t.co/AE6WyMwFLK pic.twitter.com/IQPAMH1riA
— Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO) January 8, 2022
The man was finally removed around 7:30 a.m. and was taken to the trauma center by ambulance. According to WRC-TV, he was seriously injured but is expected to recover.
“Update — Forest Glen, One person, an adult male has been extricated from chimney,” Piringer tweeted in a final update, saying the department’s Emergency Medical and Integrated Healthcare Services was transporting him with a police escort because “apparently he is not a resident of this house.”
Update – Forest Glen, One person, an adult male has been extricated from chimney, @MCFRS_EMIHS transporting Pri2 NLT & being escorted by PD, apparently he is not a resident of this house https://t.co/rTzmVMTuiC pic.twitter.com/as92TXGnPl
— Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO) January 8, 2022
The man has not been identified, and authorities have not announced any formal charges.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.