Man Saved From Grease Vent After 2 Days In Possible Botched Robbery

On Wednesday morning, firefighters in San Lorenzo, California, rescued a man who had been stuck in a grease vent above an abandoned Chinese restaurant for two days. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that rescuers were summoned after cries for help prompted a 911 call. "Arriving firefighters also heard moaning and a voice inside the building saying he was stuck in the duct system above the stove." The slipperiness of the grease and the metal walls prevented the man from escaping. Alameda County Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Ray Kelly told the Chronicle that the "passageway runs all the way through to the building, but significantly narrows on the way down." The rescue footage courtesy of KSBY is certainly exciting, even as it taps into all of our worst claustrophobic nightmares.

It seems like a possibly and particularly harsh karmic lesson for this man, as the only reason that seems plausible for someone to dive into a grease vent would be to burglarize the restaurant below (although maybe he tripped?). Despite his two days in a grease vent, the man was in stable condition, and deputies have not yet decided whether or not to book him. The rescue from the ventilation system cost $10,000, the Chronicle notes.