2 Men Had to Be Rescued from Md. Hotel Ledge After Fleeing Armed Robbery Inside Room By Sean Neumann

Two men in Maryland had to be rescued from a ninth-floor hotel ledge on New Year’s Day after a man allegedly burst into their room and tried to rob them at gunpoint.

The dramatic scene played out in the early morning hours of Jan. 1, as first responders used a fire truck ladder to rescue the two men from the ledge outside their hotel room window, according to local reports from WUSA, WTOP, and WJLA.

According to the outlets, the Montgomery County Department of Police said authorities received a call at approximately 12:43 a.m. about an alleged armed robbery at the Embassy Suites Hotel on Democracy Blvd. in Bethesda, Md.

Police said a man entered the ninth-floor hotel room with a gun and attempted to rob the two men, who then decided to flee out of the room’s window and got stuck. 

A spokesperson for the Montgomery police told WTOP that the men “somehow felt the safest escape route was to climb out on the ledge” and wound up getting stuck there for more than an hour.

The two men were later rescued by the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service’s Special Operations Technical Rescue Team around 2:30 a.m., according to WTOP, and were reportedly not injured. 

Police later said a suspect in connection with the armed robbery was in custody, according to the outlet. PEOPLE reached out to the Montgomery County Department of Police for more information Tuesday but did not immediately receive a response.

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“We’re in shock. It’s shocking to know this happened at this hotel,” hotel guest Bruce Lanctot, who was staying on the floor above the men’s hotel room, told WJLA.

“It’s a great hotel,” Pamela Lanctot told the outlet. “We’ve enjoyed our stay. Everyone’s been especially nice at the front desk with our family. Boy, oh boy, this is quite a shock.”

The hotel guest added: “I hate to let stuff like that stop our celebrations. But I will be more observant about our surroundings.”