Wellington -
A man who allegedly tried to rob a fish-and-chips shop in New Zealand was left covered in oil and suffering from hypothermia after he got stuck in the building's extractor vent, Christchurch police said on Tuesday.
Residents of a neighbouring house called police at 2.30am and reported that they could hear a person shouting for help from the fish shop, Inspector Derek Erasmus said.
Once police arrived, they found the 18-year-old man stuck in the extractor vents above the shop's cooking vats.
The shop was closed, so the vats were no longer full of hot cooking oil.
“We had to call the fire service because he was well stuck. They had to cut him out.”
Erasmus said the man had been trapped for a couple of hours in overnight temperatures of six degrees Celsius and was suffering from hypothermia when he was arrested.
He is to appear in court on Monday, charged with burglary.
- Sapa-dpa