Burglar Stuck and Dangling Over a Hot Oil Vent

Timothy Cipriani, a recently paroled burglar, was found hanging from an airduct in a pizza shop after attempting to burgle it.

Police discovered the grease-covered robber after hearing his screams for help in the early hours of the morning. He had become wedged in the ventilation duct after climbing into it to break into the Paesan's Pizza restaurant after it had closed. He was trapped where the vent opened over the fryer and he became extremely distraught, said Lieutenant Michael Brown from the police department in Rotterdam.

It took 30 minutes to get him out of the vent. 'He said he thought he was going to die. The fryer had been used all day so it may have been generating some heat' Mr Brown said. In his mugshot, burglar Cipriani, 46, of nearby Schenectady, was coated in grease and grime.

He was charged with burglary, criminal mischief and possession of burglary tools, and was bailed from Schenectady County Jail after paying £12,200 ($20,000).

Cipriani was on parole after being released from prison in January 2010. He has served five previous prison stints for burglary and attempted burglary dating back to 1992. According to Mr Brown, Cipriani caused considerable damage to the ventilation system during the break-in.