Homeowner Lights Fire Not Realizing Burglar is STUCK in Chimney

30 Nov, 2015 by McGuire

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This can get filed under dumb crimes, for sure. If you break into a house, why in the world would you pull a Santa Claus and decide the chimney is the route to go? This guy clearly has no brains in his head:

A suspected burglar who became stuck in the chimney of a Central California home died of burns and smoke inhalation after the home’s owner lit a fire in the fireplace, authorities said Sunday.

The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office identified the deceased suspect as 19-year-old Cody Caldwell, who was pronounced dead at the scene Saturday afternoon.

Investigators believe Caldwell climbed in the chimney sometime Friday night to rob the home in the small city of Huron but became stuck. He was in the chimney for almost 24 hours by the time the male homeowner came home and lit the fire just before 3 p.m. Saturday.

The homeowner heard Caldwell scream from inside the chimney and worked to put the fire out, causing the house to fill up with smoke, the station reported.

The sheriff’s office said firefighters responded to the home and dismantled the chimney, but were too late to save Caldwell. It was not immediately clear whether he had a prior criminal record.

Sheriff’s office spokesman Lt. Brandon Pursell said the home suffered smoke damage in addition to the dismantled chimney.

I’m sure this guy’s family will find a way to turn a profit on his death by suing the homeowner or some other equally silly thing. How about this: don’t rob houses, and you won’t ‘accidentally’ get killed or even be at risk for it.

What a grade-a moron.

Written by Katie McGuire. Send your hate mail to the author at [email protected], or feel free to mean tweet me at @GOPKatie, where I will be sure to do very little about it.