Naked man rescued after getting stuck in chimney says he was playing hide-and-seek

A 29-year-old man claims he was playing a game of hide-and-seek when he climbed the roof of Carroll Redemption Center in downtown Carroll, Iowa, and shimmied 20 feet down its chimney, where he got stuck. At 10:50am on Wednesday, when firefighters broke a hole through the chimney and pulled Jordan Kajewski out, the man was naked and covered in soot. It’s unclear when or why he disrobed. His clothes were with him inside the chimney.



Kajewski, who recently moved to Carroll, was arrested for trespassing. Nine hours earlier, Brad Sapp, an owner of the business was working late sorting aluminum cans when he heard someone whisper: “Get out of here.” It spooked him, but when he told his wife Carrie, she mocked him for being scared of ghosts. Eight hours later, she was working near the chimney when the man yelled for help. He asked her not to call the police.



“I’m in your chimney,” she said he yelled to her. “I was playing hide-and-seek with my cousin. ... Don’t call the cops, I just need some help getting out.” They called the police at about 10:15am. More than a dozen firefighters worked for about 30 minutes to free Kajewski. “This was definitely a first for the Carroll Fire Department,” Fire Chief Greg Schreck said after. The firefighters had intended to use a truck with a long ladder and bucket to drop a rope to the man, but they opted to hammer a hole in the side of the brick chimney and pull Kajewski out the bottom.



Paramedics evaluated the man before he was taken to jail. Kajewski had asked Brad Sapp for a job three times in recent weeks, Sapp said, and on the last denial Kajewski grew upset and shouted: “Just give me some hours.” Sapp assumes the man wanted a few hours of work so he could figure out a way to break into the place. “Why would I steal cans?” Kajewski had told Carrie Sapp. “I make $800 a week.” It’s unclear whether Kajewski won the game of hide and seek. He is currently in the Carroll County Jail.

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