It wasn't the decision of the 43-year-old man to climb into a Sacramento Metropolitan Fire Truck in Carmichael and turn on the siren that got him into trouble.
But, of course, that didn't help.
What got him into hot water was allegedly breaking into the U.S. post office in the 6900 block of Fair Oaks Boulevard in Carmichael shortly before 6 a.m. today, a spokesman for the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department said.
Sheriff's spokesman Deputy Jason Ramos said the man, whose identity was not released, triggered attention from law enforcement authorities after he allegedly broke a window in the Postal Office and climbed into the building, setting off the burglar alarm.
Ramos said a nearby person witnessed the break-in. Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District firefighters and Sheriff's deputies arrived soon after.
"It's hard to tell what his intent was," spokesman Ramos said when asked about motive. "This guy was under the influence. You couldn't get a coherent statement out of him."
The suspect obviously didn't mind attracting attention, however.
Ramos said after authorities arrived, the man jumped back out of the postal window and climbed into the fire truck, turning on the siren.
Soon after, he climbed down from the vehicle and started running toward the street, straight into the arms of deputies. The whole episode took little more than five minutes, Ramos said.
The suspect apparently cut himself on the broken glass and was taken to a local hospital for treatment of minor injuries, Ramos said. U.S. postal inspectors who arrived at the hospital later released the man without arrest, Ramos said.
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