Brandon Twp.- Rich Walker figures a man who got stuck in the pizza oven vent at his Cracker Barrel store on Sunday is lucky he didn’t die trying to get a slice.
‘Cracker Barrel has such good pizza they’re jumping down the vents,? said Walker, owner of the store located at 5500 Oak Hill Road. ‘Seriously, though, he was in a life-threatening situation. If he wasn’t conscious, we could have turned the oven on and cooked him. This was very, very weird.?
Walker was made aware that there was a ‘situation? at his store that required his attention around 11 a.m., Oct. 18. Shortly before that time, Store Manager Jeff Call was notified by a passerby that there was screaming coming from inside the pizza shop adjacent to the grocery store.
‘There is no way to lock yourself in,? said Call, who summoned 9-1-1. He suspected from the muffled sound a situation like he encountered 25 or 30 years ago when he worked at Joe’s Army Navy Surplus and someone got stuck trying to break into the building. ‘You should have seen the look on our faces. It’s like, ‘Cripes, what are you thinking???
According to Oakland County Sheriff’s Office reports, deputies from the Brandon substation responded, along with firefighters from both Brandon and Independence Township.
Walker said when they entered the building, a police officer told him that the sounds were coming from the large pizza oven vent. On Monday, Walker points upward to the stainless steel, welded vent where the man was stuck, explaining that the suspect’s feet were visible, as was his midsection, but there was no way out. Police estimate the man had been stuck there for more than 11 hours. Walker said the pizza shop closed at about 10:30 p.m. Saturday and he suspects the man tried to gain entry a short time later, falling about 14 to 15 feet down the vent from the roof until hitting where the thick steel vent is welded to the oven.
‘You’d think any moron would know better,? said Walker. ‘He could have died from the fall, or if he had passed out or one of our employees had come in be-bopping with their headphones on and didn’t hear him…?
Instead, deputies and firefighters found the man, soon identified as Thomas Dwayne Lewis, crying for help and also telling whoever would listen that he was innocent. The 32-year-old Brandon Township man’s criminal history includes a 2005 conviction for home invasion to which he was sentenced to 3-22 years in prison. He had two convictions in 2012, for breaking and entering and possession of a controlled substance, for which he was sentenced to serve 14 months to 15 years in prison and for which he is currently on parole.
‘He was trying to say someone put him down there, had forced him down the pipe,? said Walker, shaking his head.
Brandon Fire Capt. Dan Flood said Independence firefighters were called as they have additional equipment for a technical rescue. Firefighters were able to lower a strap system into the vent which the suspect was able to grasp.
‘He was able to hang on, they were able to pull, and he climbed out,? said Flood, who recalled only one other similar rescue in all his years with the township. Back in the 80s, Brandon firefighters rescued a young woman who locked herself out of her house and then attempted to slide down the chimney ‘like Santa.?
‘You just can’t believe everything you see on TV,? observes Flood.
Walker said it was hard to believe what he saw in his pizza vent and he is grateful firefighters were able to get the suspect out by noon without damage to the vent. Employees at the shop were back to making pizzas a short time later. Lewis was arrested and transported to McLaren Hospital for minor injuries and dehydration sustained during the break-in, but as Walker notes, ‘You can’t fix stupid.?
Lewis was arraigned at the hospital Oct. 20 on one charge of breaking and entering with intent to commit a larceny, a 10-year felony. He is being held on a $25,000 cash bond, no 10 percent.