Jumping around rooftops and ledges, and bouncing off pillars and chimneys all seems like fun (and is often impressive to watch) until someone gets hurt. Or gets stuck in a dangerous, embarrassing and costly situation.
Playing parkour got a Denver man stuck in an apartment building chimney after he fell down the chute while jumping around various rooftop obstacles. Dustin Hinkle, 26, fell into the chimney feet-first, descending 35 feet into the chute and trapped himself. The Denver fire department had to rescue him, cutting out a sizable portion of the chimney wall for his removal.
Police booked the man on suspicion of trespassing and he is currently in a downtown Denver jail, according to a statement from the department.
“Hinkle states that he dropped onto the open chimney from an above balcony and fell in,” the statement says. “Hinkle admitted that he had no legitimate business in the building.”
Removing Hinkle from the chimney took firefighters approximately two hours. Fortunately, the apartment where the wall was destroyed was vacant, so at least the resident of that unit didn’t have his or her Friday ruined by some dude stuck in the chimney and the fire department cutting a hole in the wall. According to police, the cost of the damages will be in the thousands of dollars.
1742 Champa UPDATE: crews working to free a man trapped in a chimney. pic.twitter.com/Lr9e3cP8Sy
— Denver Fire Department (@Denver_Fire) February 16, 2017
The two people with Hinkle, both in their early 20s, were also arrested for trespassing and interfering with a police officer.
People surely get put in jail on a Friday night for a variety of reasons related to taking fun a bit too far or flirting with dangerous situations. But how many of them result in being stuck in a chimney? Wouldn’t you love to see some camera footage of this guy explaining to his fellow cellmates (if he was in a holding pen with others who were arrested) why he was in jail.
https://youtu.be/DohRa9lsx0Q
Yeah, I tried to steal a car. That guy got into a fight at the bar. Over there in the corner, he drove into a lamppost. Next to him, he broke into some old lady’s house for some jewelry. How about you? What did you do, bro? Wait — say what? We’re gonna call you Santa Claus, man!
At 6-foot-5 and roughly 170 pounds, Hinkle may have been ideally, though unfortunately, suited to fall down that chimney and get stuck. Only a thin man could apparently have fit — and fallen — down that space. Someone bigger could possibly have suffered a more serious — or at the very least, different — sort of injury.
