A Baltimore man trying to shake a shoplifting rap ended up pulled from a ceiling crawl space in a fire-damaged vacant house after officers resorted to pepper spray, according to police and court records. The tense and strangely cinematic arrest unfolded Monday in East Baltimore and is laid out in recently filed charging documents.
Officers were on the lookout for 29-year-old Justin Lewis after a worker at the Dollar General in the 2500 block of Greenmount Avenue reported catching him in the act, police say. When confronted by an officer, Lewis was ordered to empty his clothing. Court records say he produced three bottles of Lysol from his pants and dropped a case of soap. Asked for his name, Lewis instead took off running and was later spotted climbing through a back window of a fire-damaged vacant house in the 500 block of East 26th Street, according to FOX45.
Officers Force Him Out With Pepper Spray
Investigators inside the vacant property noticed insulation shifting and movement overhead in the ceiling crawl space, court records state. They say officers ordered Lewis to come down, but he kept moving around in the tight space instead of surrendering. With the Baltimore City Fire Department declining to provide a ladder because of fears the structure could collapse, officers deployed OC spray into the confined area and used a crowbar to pull down sections of sheetrock until Lewis finally came down, according to FOX45. He was treated at the scene by ambulance crews for burning sensations from the spray and then taken to central booking.
Vacant Houses Create Hazards For Responders
Baltimore continues to wrestle with thousands of vacant homes, including many that are fire-damaged or structurally unsafe. City officials have launched several initiatives to speed up redevelopment and cut down on abandoned properties. The administration’s Bmore F.A.S.T. plan is one of the key efforts focused on reducing vacancy and stabilizing existing buildings, CBS Baltimore reports. Episodes like this arrest highlight how those unstable structures can quickly turn a simple call for service into a risky situation for police and firefighters.
