Bank customers at a Texas ATM called police after they got cries for help along with their receipts

A Corpus Christi bank contractor in the act of replacing a lock in a Bank of America ATM found himself trapped behind the machine, forcing him to slip customers help notes via the ATM’s receipt slot until he was rescued.

Senior Officer Richard Olden of the Corpus Christi Police described the incident to KRISTV as “a once in a lifetime situation that you will probably never see or hear again.”

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The contractor arrived onsite around 2 p.m. Wednesday, say police, and got to working on the ATM from a small room contained behind it. He left his phone in his truck.

That turned out to be a big mistake when he was inadvertently locked in.

Thankfully, customers were coming and going from the ATM, which was still in operation. The contractor began slipping notes to customers through the machine; as customers received receipts of their transactions, they also received cries for help.

Many of them didn’t take it seriously. Though the note asked recipients to call the contractor’s boss, one recipient called police, who were also skeptical of the whole thing.

“We come out here, and sure enough we can hear a little voice coming from the machine. So we are thinking this is a joke. It’s got to be a joke,” said Officer Olden.

Once the contractor’s supervisor arrived, police kicked down the door to rescue the man. No one was injured.