A Northern California burglar somehow found himself lodged inside a coffee shop’s wall on Monday, calling out for help as employees ignored him.
Sharp Salinas Police Department officers, sipping their morning coffee, searched for the noise and were stunned after they knocked on the wall, only to hear an unlikely response: A man knocking back.
The stunned officers called for the Salinas Fire Department, who cut the wall open to free the man, Isaac Valencia. The alleged burglar estimated he had been there between a Brewjee coffee shop and the cinema for around 10 hours. He reportedly slipped off the roof of the nearby Maya Cinemas on Sunday night before sliding down 22 feet.
“Not every rescue starts with lights and sirens. Sometimes it starts with a couple graveyard officers trying to get coffee before ending their shift,” Salinas PD wrote in a social media post.
Employees initially dismissed the man’s calls before the officers came in and noticed them.
“Most people probably would have chalked it up to the building making noise. These officers did not,” they added.
The department praised the officer’s instincts.
“We’re glad this ended with everyone safely going home. Great work by our graveyard Officers, even when tired, for trusting their instincts, staying persistent, and quite literally listening to the walls,” they wrote.
The 29-year-old Valencia was medically evaluated before he was booked into the Monterey County Jail on a burglary charge. Firefighters needed to cut through the wall outside the shop, and a layer of cinderblock and cement to free Valencia.
His bail has been set at $10,000, according to KSBW.
Salinas is a city located just south of the Bay Area in Monterey County.
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