This story courtesy of the Chicago Sun Times
Mere hours after its official opening, a man managed to get trapped in Chicago’s first self-cleaning public toilet. He just didn’t see the button that would open the bathroom’s door and resorted to kicking it to try and force it open. To be fair, when Chicagoans feel backed into a corner, their go-to is to kick.
A man was “temporarily trapped” in the city’s new self-cleaning bathroom in West Town Wednesday afternoon.
The man used the facility around 3 p.m. and finished before the door automatically popped open after 15 minutes, said Paul Stewart, a spokesperson for JCDecaux, the bathroom’s operator.
“Everything worked the way it was designed to,” said Stewart, adding the unit did not malfunction.
“Apparently this person didn’t see the button,’’ said Stewart. He said there are two buttons that users can push to open the door. There are also audio prompts to assist users in the unit.
“They were kicking the door and trying to force the door open,” Stewart said. “They didn’t know how to get out.”
The man’s actions, which damaged the facility in the 1200 block of North Milwaukee Avenue, also caused it to lock down, reset, and prompted an emergency response from security personnel or one of two firehouses in the area which have a bathroom key, Stewart said.
At that point, the electronic door could not open — even by using the buttons inside it — until someone from the outside, such as the management company, or a firefighter, opened it.
“Whatever he did disabled the door,” Stewart said.
The Chicago Fire Department were close by and responded first, Stewart said, and was told the person was “agitated.”
“They flipped the switch, and the gentleman came out,” Stewart said.