Ein Einbrecher öffnet vorsichtig eine Tür

Burglar Breaks Into Escape Room, Calls 911 When He Can’t Escape

By Josh Helmuth

Ein Einbrecher öffnet eine Tür. Photo: Jens Rother (Getty)

I’ve never considered leading the life of a burglar. If I did, though, I wouldn’t plan my next break-in at a place specializing in locking people inside for fun. For some reason, a Vancouver, Washington man thought it would be fun to break into a local escape room, destroy some property, then make off with some new memorabilia. Of course, the plan backfired when he couldn’t figure out how to, you know, escape.

For those unfamiliar, an “escape room” is a broad term for a commercial business that locks groups of patrons in a room where they have to solve puzzles and use clues to find a way to break out.

Rye Wardlaw couldn’t do it, and according to KPTV , that’s why he’s now behind bars:

[Owners] Rob and Tamara [Bertrand] say Wardlaw did so much damage to the back-exit door at the escape room that he couldn’t open it to run away.

“He apparently didn’t know how to use the lock on the front door and was stuck,” Tamara said.

Wardlaw — who now owns ironic name of the year —  allegedly broke the back door knob, couldn’t figure out how to escape, and panicked. He called 911, telling police he was phoning from the escape room simply because his home was being burglarized. That’s right, the burglar was trying to convince the popo he was the victim and just happened to stumble upon the inside of a locked commercial business that wasn’t his.

Here’s the business below, the Northwest Escape Experience. The owners say Wardlaw pushed over lockers and destroyed flowers before he “came in and made himself at home.”

What’s funny is this isn’t the first time such an event has occurred: Two Women Escape From Prison Only To Get Busted…In An ‘Escape Room’

Police also said Wardlaw-less called 911 several times; the dude must have been having a full blown panic attack. He actually made it outside the escape room by the time police got to him. Still, he was charged with burglary in the second-degree with a bail of $40,000.

Watch this latest bonehead endeavor below.

KPTV – FOX 12

Josh Helmuth is a sports reporter in St. Louis who contributes to Mandatory. 

Josh Helmuth
Josh Helmuth

Josh is originally from the small berg of Arthur, Ill, proudly the Amish capital of the state. It also has one hell of a pumpkin patch.

Josh has enjoyed dipping his toes into a variety of careers since graduating from the University of Alabama, the most rewarding thus far having served as a youth director in southern California for four years, and his broadcasting career which has garnered two Emmy awards and three Edward R. Murrow Awards.  

Josh enjoys loud rock music, Tom Hanks movies, dogs that like to cuddle and long runs. He is also always in search for America's greatest cheeseburger. Follow him here if you would like to be friends!

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