A man walking into a Southern California hospital, believed to be high on drugs, climbed onto the hospital’s roof and became trapped, causing thousands of dollars in damage, according to police and officials. .
An intoxicated man walked into the emergency room bathroom at San Antonio Regional Hospital in Upland Monday night, broke some ceiling tiles and pulled himself into the ceiling.
Once the police arrived sometime after 9 pm. “They confirmed on surveillance footage that the individual was seen go into the restroom and never come out,” the Upland Police Department said Tuesday.
Police initially could not see the man, who did not respond when police shouted to him if anyone was there.
“Due to the extremely confined space, including the maze of wires, plumbing, HVAC lines, etc., officers had to use pole cameras to look into the ceiling,” police said.
Within moments, police found the man trapped between a large HVAC unit and a steel beam “in complete darkness.”
When the police called him by name, he admitted that he was trapped and could not get out.
San Bernardino County Fire firefighters responded and worked for about an hour to free the man, who has not been identified by authorities.
Video Issued by Upland Police Responders are shown standing on a ladder and looking for the man with his head inside the ceiling, as the “Scooby-Doo” theme song plays in the background.
Later, the man can be seen lying on his back in the tight space, moving his arms and legs as responders try to get him out.
The clip then shows an officer grabbing the man’s legs as he exits the roof and slowly carrying them down over his shoulder.
Authorities said he caused more than $5,000 in damage to the ceiling electrical and HVAC systems.
The man was arrested and charged with aggravated vandalism.
He was taken to the county jail where the police “pointed him to the concrete ceilings” to prevent him from planning any more adventures.
Police said emergency room services continued uninterrupted during the strange ordeal.
(tags to translate)US news(T)California(T)hospital(T)police officer(T)rescue
