A man who spent 12 hours in a small hole in a rock quarry in Auburn in Barrow County is going to be okay, according to police.
Sgt. Marc Pharr, Public Information Officer for the Auburn Police Department, said the incident unfolded around 9 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 24 when an employee of Martin Marietta - Auburn Quarry on Parks Mill Road saw the man standing on top of a high wall.
"[The employee] yelled at the individual and the individual then took off running from the employee and ended up crawling inside of a cavern/hole or opening that recent blasting from the rocks [had] created," Pharr said.
The employee then called police, according to Pharr, and at the same time, the mother of the man was contacting authorities telling them her adult son had left their home. Once police connected the dots on the two calls, they arrived at the quarry and made contact with the man.
"He refused to come out of the opening after numerous attempts - he just continually refused," Pharr said.
Barrow County and Hall County rescue crews arrived at the scene, but after assessing the situation, Pharr said they all agreed the area where the man was hiding was too unstable and too unsafe to attempt a rescue.
"So, we ultimately pulled everybody back and the Auburn Police Department decided to wait him out," Pharr said.
It took until about 9 p.m. for the man to exit the opening, according to Pharr, and aside from some scrapes and scratches on his back and chest, the man was okay.
"He was subsequently detained, he was checked out by EMS..and he was transported to the hospital for evaluation," Pharr said, noting that the man was also sore and cold after being confined to the small space all day.
Pharr said the man could face criminal trespassing charges from the Auburn Police Department; he did not know if Martin Marietta might seek civil charges, since business operations had to be stopped while the man was hiding.
Pharr declined to release the name of the man, saying officers were just glad the situation ended without any serious problems.
"It had the best outcome we could hope for," Pharr said.
