Bad Santa…
Via ABC Action News:
NAPLES, Fla. – It wasn’t Santa Claus coming down the chimney of a southwest Florida home early Wednesday morning. Naples police say it was a man who intended to rob a home after he ran out of money during a night of drinking.
But Richard Tyler Brandon, 25, got stuck half way down the chimney.
His friend, Derek Grenfell, 26, told authorities he warned his friend not to go down the chimney. “I said, `Dude, you’re not Santa Claus, what are you doing.”
The Naples Daily News reports Grenfell went looking for help and found police officers at a nearby gas station. They called for additional help from police and firefighters, forced their way into the home and saw a sooty, shoeless foot dangling inside the fireplace.
“That was our first real indication that we had somebody indeed stuck in a chimney,” said Naples Fire Chief Steve McInerny.
It took two hours to pull Brandon out of the chimney with a harness. He was taken to the hospital for treatment after complaining of back and leg pain and difficulty breathing.
“There is a chance he could have died,” said Naples detective Robert Young. “That space he was jammed into was really tight. He couldn’t move.”