KEY POINTS

  • The incident took place Saturday morning
  • The house was left in a complete mess after the rescue
  • The suspected burglar suffered minor injuries 

Authorities in Maryland have rescued a suspected intruder, who got stuck in the chimney of a house he was trying to rob Saturday morning.

The incident took place at a home in Silver Springs at 5.30 a.m. ET., WTOP-TV reported. Montgomery County police spokesperson Shiera Goff told the outlet the man was trying to rob the house when he ended up getting stuck.

A video shared by the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service showed the officials digging a hole into a wall, peeling away the plaster, and then moving each brick individually to rescue the man.

Pete Piringer, a spokesperson for the Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service, said on Twitter that the police had received a call about the attempted break-in, and that the man was "not authorized" to be there. It took fire crew and authorities an hour and a half to rescue the man, NBC Washington reported.

The identity of the man hasn't been disclosed by authorities. WTOP-TV reported the man had suffered minor injuries, and he had to be rushed to a hospital with a police "escort." It remains unclear whether the man was charged with a crime.

The photos showed the house piled up with debris following the incident. The home, which was owned by Holy Cross Hospital, ended up with a large hole on one of its walls and littered with a pile of bricks and rubbles inside.

In October 2019, a man was pronounced dead after authorities rescued him from a 290 feet Chimney where he accidentally got stuck. The man was found dangling upside down from a chimney in Cumbria in England. Cumbria Police, Lancashire Fire and Rescue, and the Penrith Mountain Rescue Team reached the spot to rescue the man. The "highly complex" rescue effort reportedly involved drones and a cherry picker. After the man's position was pinpointed, the officials managed to bring him to the ground, where they performed CPR on him. The man couldn't be revived. The police said then they were investigating why and how the man got stuck on the top of the chimney.

Sistine Chapel Chimney
The chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel is seen from the dome of Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican March 11, 2013. Roman Catholic Cardinals will begin their conclave inside the Sistine Chapel on Tuesday to elect a new pope. Reuters/Eric Gaillard
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