A man in Colorado was freed yesterday, on Tuesday, from inside of a wall at a Marshalls department store. The man had been inside that wall for three days, and now faces trespassing charges.
The man, trapped between the walls in a Marshalls in Longmont, Colorado, attempted unsuccessfully to pass notes out of the walls, including one written on the business card of his probation officer. The Longmont Fire Department freed him on November 11. It took the team roughly 30 minutes to help the man, Paul Felyk, 35, get to freedom. The firefighters sawed through the wall to give the man enough room to escape.
People working inside of the Marshalls had reported to police on Monday that they heard the voice of a man yelling but that they did not know where he was. The workers heard the yelling again on Tuesday, and this time they found the source: a man trapped inside one of the back walls of the store.
The emergency team that responded to the call later found the notes that Felyk attempted to pass through the wall of the store. The team said that the notes did not accurately describe where Felyk was. Longmont police Sgt. Cage said that he wasn't sure that Felyk even knew where he was. Police believe that Felyk had been trapped inside the store since Saturday, because they found a note he had written from inside the store dated November 8.
Felyk is currently hospitalized at Longmont United Hospital.
According to police reports, Felyk entered the building through the roof, where he then fell 20 feet before becoming trapped between the walls of the store. Police said that Felyk suffered injuries to his lower limbs. According to the Times-Call, local police plan to charge Felyk with trespassing. Felyk has a previous arrest record for charges including robbery, trespassing, assault and theft. Police believe he is a transient.
Workers also believe that Felyk may be responsible for a utility outage in the building and buildings connected to where he was trapped. On Monday, heat, internet and phone service abruptly stopped working in some areas of the complex, including Edible Arrangements, which is a few stores away from the Marshalls.
