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Aug. 14 (UPI) — A Baltimore bookstore inherited a peculiar mystery safe at its location and issued a public challenge for skilled safe-crackers to unlock the box, leading to an unexpected volunteer from Canada.
Rick Ammazzini, a bus driver for Winnipeg Transit in Alberta, developed a hobby for cracking safes about 12 years ago and was encouraged by an online community of enthusiasts to take on the challenge presented by Red Emma’s Bookstore in Baltimore.
“As a joke, they shared it in the online group, saying ‘You should go and do this!’ In response, I said, ‘If you guys fund my travel expenses, I’ll give it a shot,'” Ammazzini told CTV News.
A fundraising campaign quickly raised the necessary $1,300 for Ammazzini’s travel expenses.
However, Ammazzini soon discovered that cracking the lock was more complex than he had anticipated during his first day of attempts.
“Usually, this type of lock should take no more than an hour or an hour and a half,” he explained. “But I encountered some difficulties; the lock wasn’t operating as expected.”
After discussing his challenges with his online community, they provided him with valuable advice.
“Armed with that knowledge the next day, I was able to analyze the lock’s behavior and understand where I was going wrong,” Ammazzini said.
He persevered, spending a full day at the bookstore until the safe door finally yielded.
“I spent ten hours gripping the dial,” he recalled. “My hands were actually stained black from the brass; I held onto it for so long.”
The bookstore had promised that whoever managed to open the safe would receive half of its contents if there was anything valuable inside. However, all Ammazzini found were empty wooden drawers, a few paper clips, and an old paystub.
Ammazzini expressed no disappointment; he had participated in this endeavor for the experience itself.
“Based on my prior experience, I knew that chances were slim to find anything inside,” he remarked. “However, the store owner was thrilled because he had never experienced the disappointment I have, where safes turn out to be empty. In fact, he believes it’s filled with gold and diamonds.”
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