‘Are you done in there?’

By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

A 13-year-old Hillsboro boy spent about an hour Thursday locked inside a Pizza Hut bathroom until police and firefighters could free him.

The lock mechanism on the heavy metal door failed, Fire Chief Ben Steketee said, and the boy was unable to open it.

Realizing he could not get out even with employees’ help, the boy’s parents called for help. Dispatchers sent both police and the fire department.

One firefighter happened to be at the restaurant and tried to remove the lock but could not do so by himself.

The boy remained calm and was talking to rescuers as they worked to free him, Assistant Police Chief Randy Brazil said.

Removing the lock caused only minor damage to the metal door, Brazil said, but he recommended to the manager that locks on both bathroom doors be replaced.

A moment of levity ended the boy’s ordeal.

“One of my captains asked him when he came out, ‘Are you done in there?’” Steketee said.