Police Arrest Man Trapped In Boston Tunnel Walls
BOSTON (CBS) -- A Somerville man is facing charges after calling for help while allegedly trespassing in Boston's tunnels.
Massachusetts State Police said they responded at 9:20 p.m. Monday to a man who said he was trapped in a storm drain.
"Dispatchers were able to determine the man was located somewhere in the Boston tunnels," police said.
Troopers kept the man on the phone as he described the white walls and light blue floor around him. Police said they then asked all troopers to slowly drive around the D ramp and Ted Williams/Connector tunnels with their sirens on to see if the man could hear them.
Twenty minutes later, the caller said he heard a siren.
"All Troopers stopped and one by one activated their sirens, narrowing down a more specific area to where the caller was," police said. "This led the search to the D ramp."
The D ramp was shut down as police looked in vent slots, doors and openings in the ceiling. Then they saw something.
"While checking the area, Trooper Eric Chin observed a hand waving from an upper vent on the tunnel wall," police said. "Lieutenant David Wilson and Trooper Chin located the man in a vent shaft, approximately 15 feet up, sitting on a pipe attached to the wall."
Daniel J. Kelly, 27, was brought down to safety. He was arrested and pleaded not guilty in Boston Municipal Court Tuesday on trespassing charges.
Kelly, representing himself in court, said he woke up in the vent and didn't know how he got there. He said had four drinks at a bar that night and believes someone may have spiked them.
MassDOT Highway Administrator Thomas J. Tinlin says Kelly "did not defeat any security measures" to gain entry to the tunnel system. Tinlin says, "this individual trespassed on to a segment of state highway that was proximate to a tunnel portal, by jumping down onto the highway, an action that is both dangerous and foolish."
