FDNY firefighters rescue teen trapped in vacant Brooklyn building vault
Firefighters rescued a teen from a Brooklyn vault after he was fooling around with his friends and got locked inside, authorities said Friday.
Cops responding to a 911 call arrived at a vacant building along Franklin Ave. in Crown Heights where they found a 17-year-old boy trapped inside a vault at the former Spice Factory Building around 11:30 p.m. Thursday night.
The teen was lured into the vault by two friends who closed the door behind him, trapping him inside, cops said.
The other teens ran off, cops said.
The trapped boy used his cell phone to call his father, who called 911.
Firefighters who responded needed 40 minutes to get him out. The rescue crew used a saw, hydraulic tool, torch and sledgehammer to breach a wall and get him out.
The teen suffered no injuries but was taken to Kings County Hospital as a precaution.
Cops said the teens entered the building through a previously opened back door. As the they were walking through the building, they came upon a 4×4 vault and storage room that was open and unoccupied.
An emergency service unit secured the door of the building.
The building’s owner could not be reached for comment.
The building was sold last year to developers after the city halted plans to build two 39-story towers that would have blocked sunlight from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
