Would-be thieves in Germany were forced into an embarrassing climb-down when they got stuck in a broken-down elevator and rang the police for help.
The two burglars called in their own crime to police after they could not escape from an elevator in an office building in Cologne over the weekend, police said in a statement today.
"This sounds really dumb," one of the thieves told police officers over the elevator's emergency phone, "But I'm afraid that we wanted to break in and the elevator has gotten stuck."
When police arrived they found the two thieves aged 31 and 37 stuck in the
elevator of the building.
The men allegedly broke into the building and were attempting to reach a higher floor when the elevator became stuck, the police said.
They decided to phone for help when one thief injured his hand attempting to pry open the door. Firemen eventually freed the men and they were arrested.