After allegedly attempting to access a pawn store underneath, a suspected thief found himself stuck in a chimney for ten hours and had to be cut free.
The owner of the Capital Pawn shop in Arkansas, Ernest Raney, discovered Michael Wayne Case Jr trapped in the chimney opening, which measured only ten and a half inches in width.
Although he had been stuck for ten hours without access to food or water, the 38-year-old seemed displeased to see the store owner.
Mr. Case, who was shirtless, began to hurl insults at the bewildered shop owner, who represented his only chance for escape.
“I thought maybe a bird or animal was in there, so I decided to check it out, and when I got there, I saw a person looking up at me. I asked him what he was doing and why he was trying to break in, and he became really aggressive at that point,” Mr. Raney recounted.
Even if the suspected burglar had successfully reached the bottom of the chimney, he would have found it blocked, as it had been sealed off for years.
Emergency crews later freed Mr. Case, but the situation escalated when he attempted to fight them before being apprehended on charges of attempted burglary and resisting arrest.
He claimed to the authorities that he had accidentally fallen down the chimney while out for a stroll.
