Naked man stuck in chimney for 5 hours ("less friction going down chute")

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

Posted on Sun, Apr. 23, 2006

Naked man stuck in chimney for five hours

23-YEAR-OLD STRIPPED TO AID HIS DESCENT

By Lisa Fernandez
Mercury News

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/14410764.htm

Santa Claus he isn't. But now, Michael Urbano surely has a taste of what it's like to spend some time -- five hours -- trying to get down a chimney. The 23-year-old was trapped within the tight brick walls of his stepmother's Hayward smokestack until about 7:30 a.m. Saturday, when a firefighter was able to somehow lie below Urbano and push him up to safety. Urbano was arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of drugs.

Much to everyone's surprise, Urbano wasn't wearing anything at all, much less a red suit and matching cap. ``We get him up, and he's naked as a jaybird,'' said Hawyard police Lt. Gary Branson. ``He tells us he took his clothes off because there would be less friction going down the chute. We did find his clothes. So that part checked out.''

Police and firefighters got a call about 6:15 a.m., after a neighbor had heard ``faint, distressing'' calls since about 2:30 a.m., and finally decided to call authorities about the mysterious, muffled noises, Branson said. Crews walked around until they discovered a disconnected chimney spark arrester on the roof of the home on Cliffwood Avenue.

There, they located Urbano, calling for help.Urbano told police he had locked himself out of the house, so he figured he would swoop in on a cable TV wire through the chimney. The cable wire broke and Urbano fell, getting stuck about three-quarters of the way down. It couldn't have been comfortable -- according to police, he's not a small guy. ``He's not fat,'' Branson said, ``but he used to play football. He's not that little.''