A group of Salinas police officers were enjoying a break from fighting crime at a local coffee roaster when they heard faint cries coming from the walls.
The sounds were coming from a burglary suspect who had fallen off an adjacent movie theater roof and landed in a wall space, where he was trapped for 10 hours before being rescued, according to authorities.
Salinas police officers were inside Brewjee, a Main Street coffee shop, on Sunday morning getting their morning coffee when they heard calls for help nearby, according to a police department social media post.
The officers looked around the area, including inside the nearby Mayas Cinemas, and realized the yelling was coming from inside the wall between the coffee shop and the theater, police said.
After they knocked on the wall and heard knocking back, officers cut into Brewjee’s wall and uncovered only cinder block and cement, according to police. To get to the trapped man, firefighters cut open another section of an adjoining wall along Main Street and rescued Isaac Valencia, who had been trapped there for 10 hours, according to officials.
Valencia was booked into Monterey County jail on suspicion of burglary after he was medically evaluated, police said. Authorities did not say how far Valencia fell, but local news outlets reported a fall of about 22 feet.
Video of the rescue posted by the police department shows the Salinas Fire Department breaking down the wall and finding cinder block behind it.
“We’re glad this ended with everyone safely going home,” the Salinas Police Department said in its online post. “Great work by our graveyard Officers, even when tired, for trusting their instincts, staying persistent, and quite literally listening to the walls.”
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