Chicken Takeaway Burglar Stuck in Vent for 7 Hours

By Simon Veazey, Epoch Times
November 2, 2017 Last Updated: November 4, 2017

A suspected burglar had to call for police to come to his own crime scene, when an attempt to break into a takeaway chicken restaurant went wrong.

British police were called to investigate a “crime in progress” on the morning of Nov 2 in Birmingham to find the suspect completely stuck in an air extractor vent.

Response officer PC Matthew Willocks snapped a picture of the hapless suspect, who had endured 7 hours with his feet sticking out of the vent after crawling in. 

He said: “The extractor unit had been removed and the suspect had climbed into the extractor outlet at around 2 am.”

“He was completely stuck and couldn’t move at all,” he said according to the WM Police statement. 

“The fire brigade had to come in and use the jaws of life to pull back all the extractor casing to release him.”

He was finally freed at 9 am from the vent at DFC Chicken, on Rookery Road, in Handsworth.

The local man, 45, from Handsworth, was taken to hospital for a check-up and has been arrested on suspicion of burglary, police said. 

The tweet prompted a wave of amusement on social media.

Jim Nicholl said: “Another fine mess Stanley. Must feel a right turkey!”

Some people speculated as to how he had climbed up to the vent.

Judith Broug commented: “Trying really hard not to laugh.”

Re-tweeting the photograph, the force’s chief constable, David Thompson, said: “Most excellent.”

A suspected burglar pictured by West Midlands police on Nov. 2, 2017, in Handsworth Birmingham, UK. (West Midlands Police)