California burglary suspect rescued from home's chimney

Jan. 31 (UPI) -- Police in California arrested an alleged bad-luck burglar who ended up trapped inside a home's chimney and abandoned by his accomplices.

The Ridgecrest Police Department said officers were dispatched to a home Sunday on a report of a triggered burglary alarm, and police received a phone call moments later from a woman who reported her friend was trapped in a chimney at the same address where the alarm was triggered.

Officers arrived on the scene and discovered Keith Schultz, 28, trapped in the chimney. They said the woman who called police was gone by the time they arrived.

Police said Schultz apparently became trapped in the chimney while trying to break into the residence. Investigators found signs of forced entry and an open back door, indicating Schultz' accomplices broke into the home in an attempt to free him from the chimney, but they were unsuccessful.

The soot-covered suspect was rescued from the chimney by firefighters and booked into a Bakersfield jail on a charge of burglary.