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Burglar trapped inside escape room business calls 911

By Ben Hooper

July 11 (UPI) -- Authorities in Oregon said a burglar found 911 when he found himself in an ironic situation -- trapped inside an escape room business.

The Clark County Sheriff's Office said deputies responded to a 911 call about 4 a.m. from a man who broke into NW Escape Experience in Vancouver and discovered he was unable to get back out again.

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Investigators said the man took a phone, a TV remote and a beer from the business' fridge before discovering he had damaged the back door while breaking in and was unable to leave through it.

"The sheriff said he had a burrito and he was settling in to have a breakfast and a beer I guess and then got scared because he couldn't get out," business owner Rob Bertrand told KING-TV.

The suspect gave dispatchers a false story about breaking into the business to call for help because his home had been broken into, investigators said. He gave dispatchers a fake address.

The man did manage to get out of the building before police arrived, but he was found outside the strip mall and arrested. Rye Daniel Wardlaw was booked on a charge of second-degree burglary.

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"We started thinking about it and yeah, it's really funny," Bertrand said. "I'm proud to say I'm the only escape room in the Northwest that has a 100 percent capture rate of criminals."

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