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NEW YORK (Reuters) - This burglar could have used some lessons from Santa Claus.
A man became wedged in the chimney of an Italian family restaurant in Queens, New York, for almost three hours during an early Friday break-in, police and the owners said.
Police were called to Luigi's Italian Cuisine at 2:15 a.m. to rescue the man. Officers and firefighters broke through part of the chimney using jackhammers and drills, eventually dislodging him three hours later.
Co-owner Josephine Napolitano said she and her husband had been up late Thursday night watching a videotaped show of funny things caught on camera -- including one about a burglar who had to be greased with butter to be freed from a chimney.
"Not five minutes later, the police called us and said we're inside the restaurant, we've broken the locks, we have someone in your chimney," Napolitano said.
"At first I was thinking, this is a joke, but no it wasn't," said Napolitano, whose family has run the restaurant in the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens for 45 years.
A police spokeswoman said the suspect was being treated for injuries in the hospital. He was charged with burglary.
What the burglar did not know is that Luigi's does not keep any cash on the premises after closing and the chimney shaft leads straight into the basement.
Napolitano said the restaurant would open for dinner Friday.
A man became wedged in the chimney of an Italian family restaurant in Queens, New York, for almost three hours during an early Friday break-in, police and the owners said.
Police were called to Luigi's Italian Cuisine at 2:15 a.m. to rescue the man. Officers and firefighters broke through part of the chimney using jackhammers and drills, eventually dislodging him three hours later.
Co-owner Josephine Napolitano said she and her husband had been up late Thursday night watching a videotaped show of funny things caught on camera -- including one about a burglar who had to be greased with butter to be freed from a chimney.
"Not five minutes later, the police called us and said we're inside the restaurant, we've broken the locks, we have someone in your chimney," Napolitano said.
"At first I was thinking, this is a joke, but no it wasn't," said Napolitano, whose family has run the restaurant in the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens for 45 years.
A police spokeswoman said the suspect was being treated for injuries in the hospital. He was charged with burglary.
What the burglar did not know is that Luigi's does not keep any cash on the premises after closing and the chimney shaft leads straight into the basement.
Napolitano said the restaurant would open for dinner Friday.
