On a Sunday morning when they were off duty with coffee, Salinas police officers heard cries for help from inside a wall near Mayas Cinemas. Firefighters cut through adjoining walls and rescued burglary suspect Isaac Valencia after he was trapped for 10 hours.
For nearly the entire morning, the sound they didn’t expect—cries from inside the walls—kept coming.
Salinas police officers were taking a break inside Brewjee. a Main Street coffee shop. on Sunday morning when they heard faint calls for help nearby. according to a Salinas Police Department social media post. The officers searched the area. including inside the nearby Mayas Cinemas. and eventually realized the yelling was coming from inside the wall between the coffee shop and the theater.
They knocked on the wall and heard knocking back. What followed was hours of work that turned a routine stop for coffee into a rescue operation. Officers cut into Brewjee’s wall but initially uncovered only cinder block and cement, police said.
To reach the person trapped on the other side, firefighters cut open another section of an adjoining wall along Main Street. They found and rescued Isaac Valencia, an authorities said he had been trapped there for 10 hours.
Valencia was booked into Monterey County jail on suspicion of burglary after he was medically evaluated, police said. Authorities did not say how far he fell, but local news outlets reported a fall of about 22 feet.
A video posted by the police department shows the Salinas Fire Department breaking down the wall and finding cinder block behind it. In its online message. the Salinas Police Department said it was “glad this ended with everyone safely going home. ” and praised officers—“even when tired”—for “trusting their instincts. staying persistent. and quite literally listening to the walls.”.
Salinas police Brewjee Mayas Cinemas Isaac Valencia wall rescue burglary suspect Monterey County jail Salinas Fire Department