--- title: Teen Rescued After Getting Trapped in Old Bank Vault description: A Florida teen who got trapped inside an abandoned bank vault had to be rescued by a former bank employee who remembered the combination. canonical: https://time.com/5466923/teen-trapped-in-bank-vault/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-11-29T17:08:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:56:14.045Z og:title: Teen Rescued After Getting Trapped in Old Bank Vault og:description: The 17-year-old was stuck in vault for hours before someone remembered the combo og:url: https://time.com/5466923/teen-trapped-in-bank-vault/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4d9c6f26457e63ab/69894035db298716ba261538/bank-vault.jpg?branch=production&width=447&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 447 og:image:height: 251 og:image:alt: Bank-Vault og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Teen Rescued After Getting Trapped in Old Bank Vault twitter:description: The 17-year-old was stuck in vault for hours before someone remembered the combo twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4d9c6f26457e63ab/69894035db298716ba261538/bank-vault.jpg?branch=production&width=447&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Teen Rescued After Getting Trapped in Old Bank Vault With No Money at All > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Nov 29, 2018 5:08 PM UTC  Open bank vault Open bank vault Dennis Hallinan/Getty Images  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Nov 29, 2018 5:08 PM UTC A [Florida teen](http://time.com/5161034/florida-school-shooting-survivor/) who got [trapped inside](http://time.com/5225930/jesse-hernandez-los-angeles-sewer-pipe-trapped/) an abandoned bank [vault](http://time.com/5177165/climate-change-threatens-norway-seed-vault/) had to be rescued by a former bank employee who remembered the vault’s combination. The local rescue team of Hollywood, Fla., told [WSVN](https://wsvn.com/news/local/teen-rescued-after-being-trapped-in-abandoned-bank-vault-in-hollywood/) that two teens were exploring an old office building that once contained a Bank of America branch on Wednesday when the 17-year-old accidentally got locked inside the vault. “They didn’t know that the vault was still active. Playing inside the vault, one of them got trapped inside,” Hollywood Police officer Christian Lata said. “Luckily, the other one was outside and was able to call 911.” However, when rescue services arrived on the scene, they discovered that steel rebar in the concrete would prevent them from sawing through the vault’s walls. Officials were eventually able to get in contact with a branch employee who remembered the vault’s combination, allowing the teen to be freed without rescuers cutting through the steel door. “An old employee from across the street, which the bank moved to, was able to come up with a combination which worked,” Lata said. The teen was trapped in the vault for nearly four hours. It’s not yet clear if he or his friend will face any charges for trespassing on the property. > [](https://twitter.com/HollywoodFLPD/status/1067914060165976065) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5466923/teen-trapped-in-bank-vault/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5466923/teen-trapped-in-bank-vault/"},"headline":"Teen Rescued After Getting Trapped in Old Bank Vault With No Money at All","datePublished":"2018-11-29T17:08:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:56:14.045Z","description":"The 17-year-old was stuck inside the vault for nearly four hours","url":"https://time.com/5466923/teen-trapped-in-bank-vault/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Bizarre","Florida"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4d9c6f26457e63ab/69894035db298716ba261538/bank-vault.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4d9c6f26457e63ab/69894035db298716ba261538/bank-vault.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Bank-Vault","caption":"Open bank vault","creditText":"Dennis Hallinan/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5466923/teen-trapped-in-bank-vault/","name":"Teen Rescued After Getting Trapped in Old Bank Vault With No Money at All"}}]}] ```