Texas Man Trapped In ATM Passes Notes To Customers Pleading For Help: Cops

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX — A Texas contractor became trapped inside an ATM and passed notes to customers through the receipt slot asking for help, police said.

The man became stuck Wednesday while changing a lock on a Bank of America room, which leads to the back of the ATM, police Lt. Chris Hooper said. He didn't have a keycard on him and couldn't alert bank workers for help.

"Apparently he left his cellphone and the swipe card he needed to get out of the room outside in his truck," Hooper said.

He slipped notes to customers who were taking cash out from the machine using the receipt slot. (For more Across America news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

One read, "Please help. I'm stuck in here and I don't have my phone. Please call my boss ..."

Some customers seemingly thought the notes were a joke, Hooper said. One person called police. A faint voice could be heard emanating from inside the machine. An officer kicked in the door to the room, freeing the man. His name has not been released.

"Everyone is OK, but you will never see this in your life, that somebody was stuck in the ATM. It was just crazy," Richard Olden, a police senior officer, told KRIS-TV.

Photo credit: Tom Brenner / Stringer/Getty Images News/Getty Images