× Thanks for reading! Log in to continue. Enjoy more articles by logging in or creating a free account. No credit card required. Log in Sign up {{featured_button_text}}

A man fell through a Rapid City casino ceiling early Wednesday morning as he tried to evade police officers.

"Everybody just knew it was going to happen" since we could hear noises in the ceiling, said Paul Geissler, who witnessed the incident at Rushmore Casino on Mount Rushmore Road.

Geissler said he and a friend arrived at the casino around 12:45 a.m. to have a beer. Later, he said about five police officers entered the building and a man ran into the bathroom.

Brendyn Medina, police department spokesman, said officers were in the area around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday after a welfare check was requested. After they entered the casino, he said they saw a man make a "beeline" for the bathroom and tried to contact him in case he was the person they were searching for.

After waiting about 15 minutes for him to come out, the police officers and a casino employee knocked on the bathroom door and then unlocked it and saw no one was inside, said Geissler, who added that he later told an officer he could hear clattering noises in the roof.

"A short time later, a loud crash was heard in the main area of the business," Medina said in a news release.