Suspected burglar rescued after being trapped in grease vent for 2 days

Maggie Parker

Rescuers came to the aid of a man who was stuck in a grease vent at a shuttered Chinese restaurant in San Lorenzo, Calif., after a man at the neighboring business heard his cries for help.

Igor Campos, who owns Campos Tax Services, the business next door to the Chinese restaurant, was hearing muffled sounds of distress. “I keep hearing this ‘Ah, ah!’ and I’m like, ‘Who can it be?'” Campos told San Francisco news station KGO. On Wednesday morning, he went to the restaurant next door, which had been closed for months, to see where the noise was coming from.

That’s when he found a man covered in grease and oil stuck in an exhaust vent, KGO reports.

“I kept asking questions like, ‘What’s your name?'” Campos recalled. “And he said ‘Just please help me. … Please don’t hurt me.’ I said, ‘I’m not trying to hurt you, I’m trying to help you.'”

Campos called 911. First responders heard the voice and quickly determined it was coming from a roof vent atop the restaurant, the statement explains. “They found him stuck above the stove area here,” Alameda County Fire Department Battalion Chief John Whiting told KGO.

“A ladder was extended and personnel were able to locate a 29 year old man trapped in a sheet metal grease duct running from the roof to the kitchen,” the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office wrote on Facebook.

“The man was covered in grease and oil and was trapped in such a condition that he could not move,” the statement said.

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At 9:27AM, Engine 23 responded to a reported lockout at 754 Bockman Rd in San Lorenzo. Upon arrival, firefighters heard moaning coming from inside the building. A person stated they were stuck in the duct of the hood and duct system above the stove. The response was upgraded to a rescue with Engine 24, Rescue 24, Truck 12 and Battalion 2. An adult male was extricated from the vent system within 30 minutes of firefighters arriving at the scene. The man stated he had been stuck in the duct system for 2 days. He was transported to a local hospital by Paramedics Plus for further evaluation. The Alameda County Sheriffs Office, Alameda County Health Department, and the Alameda County Building Department also responded. @ktvu2 @kpixtv @nbcbayarea @abc7newsbayarea @kron4tv @telemundo48 #ALCOFire #SanLorenzo

A post shared by Alameda County Fire Department (@alamedacofire) on Dec 12, 2018 at 10:59am PST

It took firefighters just under an hour to remove the man from the metal duct. “The man was physically exhausted and suffering from dehydration. He was transported via ambulance to a local hospital for treatment,” the sheriff’s office says.

“The man stated he had been stuck in the duct system for 2 days,” the Alameda Fire Department wrote on Instagram.

The man is lucky to be alive. “We are very thankful to our citizen reporter and our firefighters for saving this man. It is likely he wound [sic] have survived another day given the circumstances,” the sheriff’s office said.

While he is expected to make a full recovery, he’s not out of the woods yet.

“First off, we can confirm this man was not Santa Claus and did not have legal authority to be here,” Alameda County Sheriff’s Spokesman Sgt. Ray Kelly told KGO.

“We know sometimes suspects try to break into businesses to steal copper wire and plumbing and recycling for money,” he explained. “This appears to be something along those lines.”

A trespassing and vandalism investigation is being conducted. “It is unknown if the suspect intended to commit a burglary,” the sheriff’s office wrote on Facebook.

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