PHOTOS: Burglar Gets Stuck In Store Chimney
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ORLANDO, Fla. -- Firefighters in Orlando had to save a burglary suspect Thursday who was trying to climb down the chimney of a convenience store on West Washington Street and got stuck.

This was a normal Thursday morning for the proprietor of the convenience store, until he heard someone screaming "Help me!" and looked up to see two feet dangling from the ceiling.

"We all think back to Christmas and Santa Claus coming down the chimney. It doesn't work that way," said Assistant Chief Greg Hoggart, Orlando Fire Department.

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The man may be thinner than Santa Claus, though he's not quite as skillful.

"These are some of the things that you see in movies," Hoggart said.

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But this was a real-life, high-angle rescue. Authorities said, sometime overnight, the man pulled the vent off an exhaust chimney on the roof of the West Washington Street convenience store and tried to slide his way in.

Arriving firefighters found the man squished in the middle of the chimney, his legs dangling into the store.

The store owner said he had already opened for business when he heard the man crying out for help. Rescuers poured Palmolive dish soap down the chimney and pulled him back up onto the roof, and finally back to solid ground, where police handcuffed him before his ride to the hospital.

Firefighters said they hope he learned his lesson.

"Unless he wants to get into a job as a chimney sweeper," Hoggart said. "I don't know what else to say. It's one of the funnier ones I've seen."

The suspect was identified as 37-year-old Lonnie Shields. Firefighters think he may have been stuck for six hours. He's being treated for minor injuries at Orlando Regional Medical Center, after which he'll be charged with commercial burglary.