Man gets trapped in Boston tunnel walls, then gets arrested

BOSTON -- On Marathon Monday in Boston this week, a man who admits he drank a lot that day somehow found his way into one the city's tunnels where he was trapped...eventually freed...and then, arrested, CBS Boston reported.

Massachusetts State Police said they responded at 9:20 p.m. Monday to a man who said he was trapped in a storm drain.

"Dispatchers were able to determine the man was located somewhere in the Boston tunnels," police told the station.

That's when the fun began.

Troopers kept the man on the phone as he described the white walls and light blue floor around him. Then dispatchers asked all troopers to slowly drive around the D ramp and Ted Williams/Connector tunnels with their sirens on to see if the man could hear them.

"All Troopers stopped and one by one activated their sirens, narrowing down a more specific area to where the caller was," police told CBS Boston. "This led the search to the D ramp."

The ramp was shut down as police looked in vent slots, doors and openings in the ceiling. Then they saw something.

"While checking the area, Trooper Eric Chin observed a hand waving from an upper vent on the tunnel wall," police said. "Lieutenant David Wilson and Trooper Chin located the man in a vent shaft, approximately 15 feet up, sitting on a pipe attached to the wall."

Later Kelly, 27, explained his plight thusly: "I went to go get a taxi and next thing I know I woke up in a storm drain."

"I just called the cops and they came and they rescued me," he added.

According to CBS Boston, Kelly also mentioned that he had four drinks at a bar that night and believes someone may have spiked them.

"Don't leave your drinks unattended at a bar," was the way he put it.

Police say Kelly passed out minutes after being taken into custody.

MassDOT Highway Administrator Thomas J. Tinlin told CBS Boston Kelly "did not defeat any security measures" to gain entry to the tunnel system. He said, "this individual trespassed on to a segment of state highway that was proximate to a tunnel portal by jumping down onto the highway, an action that is both dangerous and foolish."

In court Tuesday, Kelly asked the judge if he would dismiss the trespassing charges in exchange for community service.

The judge declined.