Florida Teen Locked Inside Bank Vault For Hours

HOLLYWOOD, FL — An abandoned Bank of America branch proved too much of a temptation for a couple of Florida teenagers Wednesday. That is until the vault door slammed shut.

"They were in the old bank playing around and one of them got inside the vault," Officer Christian Lata of the Hollywood Police Department told Patch. "I’m assuming that his friend closed the door on him, didn’t think that it was locked — and it locked."

Oops.

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Fortunately, one of the boys was not inside the vault.

"Luckily he was outside, and he was able to call 9-1-1 and call for help," said Lata.

Seeing the unusual predicament the boy had gotten himself into, Hollywood police called in Hollywood Fire Rescue, which in turn called in the Technical Rescue Team with of the Broward Sheriff’s Office Department of Fire Rescue and Emergency Services.

"They handle big rescues," Lata explained. "They started trying to drill through and break through the concrete."

In the meantime, one of the police officers walked across the street to the new Bank of America branch and asked if anyone had the combination to the old vault.

"They said 'no' but they said they would try to find it," Lata said. "I don’t know what exactly they did or who they called. I’m assuming they called corporate or someone, and they were able to find the combination to the old vault. They came over, and we were able to open the vault with the old combination."

Lata said he did not know if either of the boys would face charges for trespassing.

While the boy who spent two to three hours in the vault may have been shaken up, there was no danger that he could have suffocated, according to Lata.

"I’m assuming he was very embarrassed," the officer added.

Photo of the abandoned bank courtesy Hollywood Police Department