Video: CA Crews Rescue Suspected Burglar Hanging from Wires

April 20, 2021

A man arrested on suspicion of burglary fell through a roof skylight of an empty Chula Vista warehouse and was tangled in an air conditioner's copper wiring.

By Karen Kucher

Source The San Diego Union-Tribune

A Chula Vista, CA, firefighter rescues a suspected burglar who fell through an empty warehouse skylight and became entangled in copper wires Monday.

Chula Vista police arrested a man on suspicion of burglary Monday morning after finding him hanging upside down from the ceiling of an empty warehouse, tangled in copper tubing and wires.

A passerby called police to report hearing someone calling for help from a building on Bay Boulevard near Palomar Street around 7:15 a.m. When officers got inside they saw the man hanging upside down. Officers later determined he had been in that position two to three hours, said police Lt. Frank Giaime.

Police believe the man intended to try to steal copper when he ran into a problem, Giaime said.

"We don't know if he intended to fall through or not," the lieutenant said.

Chula Vista Fire Battalion Chief Brendan Barahura told OnScene TV that the man fell through a skylight in the roof and became caught in copper wiring from an air conditioning unit.

"His whole body was entangled," Barahura said.

Police were able to pull the man up through the skylight and got him back onto the roof where firefighters cut dozens of wires and tubing. They then used a ladder on a truck to lower him down from the roof.

He was transported to a hospital to be checked out.

Barahura said the man was lucky to have fallen into the wires. "He would have fallen probably 25 feet to a concrete floor so it definitely kept him from falling," he said.

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