A man was reportedly trapped in a piece of winery equipment for two days before he was rescued, local authorities reported.
Deputies were called to a private property on Tuesday after receiving "a complaint of a suspicious vehicle" parked onsite, according to a Facebook post from the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office. Although the vehicle was located, it was not immediately clear where the driver was.
"The vehicle was parked in a location that made no sense," the Facebook post claimed. "The deputy saw a hat resting on a nearby piece of farm equipment and went over to investigate. The deputy found way more than the hat."
Newsweek confirmed with Sergeant Juan Valencia of the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office that the unidentified 38-year-old male from Santa Rosa heard a man walking near the area he was trapped in, and the good samaritan made the call in to law enforcement.
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The man had gotten himself stuck inside a nearby piece of winery equipment, according to the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office. He claimed to be taking "pictures of the engines of old farm equipment" on the vineyard's property and had reportedly been trapped for two days prior to rescue.
"The occupant of the vehicle had, inexplicably, decided to climb into the shaft of the vineyard fan and became completely stuck inside the shaft," the sheriff's office reported. "The Fire Department responded and was able to extricate the man out of the fan shaft."
Although the man remained persistent that he was doing photography work, officers found traces of meth on his person.
"After a thorough investigation which revealed the farm equipment wasn't antique and the man had far more methamphetamine than camera equipment, the motivation to climb into the fan shaft remains a total mystery," the office posted.
The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office wrote on Facebook that after his rescue, the man was not arrested, although they are recommending that charges be filed against him, noting that he is violating of his probation for unrelated charges.
"We elected to not arrest him as he required medical treatment after his unintended multi-day stay in the fan shaft," the post read. "The Sheriff's Office will be recommending charges of trespassing and drug possession, as well as violations of both his probation case and the pending case for which he is currently out of custody on pre-trial release."
Valencia confirmed with Newsweek that while officers took the man to check into the hospital, another deputy "wrote a report and sent it to the District Attorney's Office for review," as the man "was found to be in possession of methamphetamine and violation of probation" upon rescue.
Deputies also noted on Facebook that he is expected to make a full recovery and hope that he becomes "wiser for the experience."
The man in question is fortunate that he was not injured in the wine excursion. Last month, another daring man attempted to make "snake wine" with a live venomous viper, which lashed out during the extraction process and nearly killed him.
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