CALIFORNIA — A man in California was arrested shortly after being rescued from inside a wall between a movie theatre and a coffee shop where he had reportedly been trapped for nearly 12 hours.
According to the Salinas Police Department, officers discovered the man after hearing faint cries for help while stopping for coffee before ending their shift on Sunday morning.
Employees at the nearby Brewje coffee shop told officers they had heard strange noises earlier, but the sounds later stopped.
Police continued investigating before realising the shouting appeared to be coming from inside the wall connecting Brewje and Maya Cinemas.
“Officers knocked on the wall and, to their surprise, received a knock back,” the department said in a statement.
Authorities later identified the trapped man as Isaac Valencia, 30.
Initial investigations by the Salinas Fire Department found that Valencia had allegedly fallen around 22 feet from the roof area near the cinema’s main sign into a narrow opening measuring roughly one foot by two feet.
Valencia reportedly told first responders he had been trapped since around 9pm the previous night after becoming wedged between metal beams and being unable to move.
Emergency crews spent nearly two hours cutting through layers of cinderblock and cement to free him from the wall.
After being rescued, Valencia was taken to a local hospital for treatment of a minor back injury.
However, once discharged, he was arrested and booked into Monterey County Jail on burglary charges.
Police praised the responding officers for continuing to investigate the unusual sounds despite initially being unable to locate the source.
“We’re glad this ended with everyone safely going home,” the department stated.
“Great work by our graveyard officers for trusting their instincts, staying persistent and quite literally listening to the walls.”
