The 38-year-old apparently homeless woman claimed that she was reaching into the bin behind a Broadway apartment building when someone pushed her, Police Director Jerry Speziale said.
Not likely, the director said: It was the third time in two years that the same woman had to be rescued from a donation box.
Someone who heard her screaming dialed 911 around 11:30 a.m. Monday, Speziale said.
Engine Co. 5 used spreaders to open the bottom of container and free her, he said.
The woman told responders she had no feeling in her legs.
“She might have suffered from frostbite,” Speziale said.
She was taken to St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center, he said.
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