Burglar arrested after getting stuck in wall

LOS ANGELES (KCAL/KCBS) — A man wanted in connection with a burglary investigation was rescued, and then arrested, after he got wedged between a cement wall and a nearby garage in the Toluca Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles.

The suspect was taken out on a gurney after first responders had freed him.

“There was no way he was moving,” said Bettina Cusumano, the homeowner.

Cusumano said she couldn’t believe what happened when she woke up Thursday morning.

“I was in the backyard with the dogs. And I knew something was wrong, because they were going crazy,” she said. “Got a phone call from my husband saying, ‘Get inside the house! Somebody is lodged between our walls.'”

Police said surveillance video appeared to show a person on the property late Wednesday night, but it never showed him leaving.

Authorities said they got a call about the man around 8 a.m. Thursday.

Firefighters quickly got to work, breaking through the heavy cinder blocks of the wall to reach the man.

“There was about a 16-inch gap that he had. He’d been there since about midnight last night,” said Capt. Roy Paige with the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The suspect was handcuffed, taken to the hospital and arrested on trespassing charges.

And this may not be the end of the story.

The Los Angeles Police Department said the man may have been involved in a burglary that happened in the same area Wednesday night.

It’s all putting neighbors on edge.

“It’s very concerning, you know? I mean, obviously we’re in a safe neighborhood, and certainly this is very, very disturbing,” a neighbor said.

Cusumano is still in shock over what happened, but she’s grateful her family and neighbors are OK.

“We try to secure our places as best we can, but there are some bad people out there,” she said.