Jury duty is one of those governmental obligations that terrify and frustrate people. It is also one of those things you don’t mess around with. You arrive on time, appropriately dressed and ready to fulfill civic obligations.
So when Albany-area makeup artist Melody (@melodylolz) tried to show up for her jury duty summons, she was rightfully terrified. That’s because as soon as she tried to exit the parking garage, she discovered she was unable to leave.
How Did She Get Trapped Before Jury Duty?
In a TikTok video that’s been viewed over 3.2 million times, Melody explains her predicament. As the video starts, she’s showing a pair of standard industrial doors. The kind that have a crash bar because they’re designed for easy exit. However, in this presumably public parking garage, the doors are chained and locked closed.
“I’m on my way to jury duty and these doors are chained,” she says as she pushes against them, demonstrating that they won’t open any further.
In the clip, the thick chain is also clearly visible. Then, she goes to summon the elevator, because—as she explains in a subsequent video—she could always take the stairs.
But as she demonstrates, the button to call the elevator is not working. She presses the button and nothing happens. “I am literally trapped and the police are on the way,” she says.
Though her video has humorous overtones, there’s a bigger problem. “I was trapped there. If someone wanted to hurt me they’d just go up there and block me from getting in the elevator and attack me,” she says in the follow-up. “I’d literally be done for.”
How’d She End Up There?
Melody says she was trying to problem-solve her way out of the garage when she ended up with no way out. Although being attacked was her primary concern, she noted other safety issues like fire or just waiting for hours to be let out.
Originally, she’d taken the elevator down to ground level from her floor. When she discovered the exit was chained, she thought it was weird but decided to go back up and then take the stairs down. So she only took the elevator up one floor. Upon exiting, those doors were also chained, so she thought she’d simply go up one more floor and walk down. But when she pushed the button, nothing happened. Finally, the police came and let her out.
Since then, she’s sent multiple emails to members of the fire department. But she alleges that she’s been unable to locate the name and contact information for the Albany fire marshal. “I guess we don’t have one?” she says.
Furthermore, she says that the email she found for building safety didn’t allow her to send an email to the address. She posted a screen capture of the undeliverable email.
Did She Make It To Jury Duty?
In a TikTok direct message to BroBible, she said she made it to the courthouse on time. “A lot of other jurors were late (so they didn’t care at all that I was nearly late).”
When asked if the city had responded to her concerns, she wrote, “The city of Albany has not acknowledged this issue whatsoever. I notified several people at the courthouse and nobody cared to do anything.”
But she’s not letting it go. “I am several hours away from Albany at college right now,” she said. “When I go home next, I plan on checking to see if anyone removed the chains, as it is clearly a safety hazard.”
The internet is keeping an eye on the situation too. “Chain from the outside is suspicious,” says commenter Trav1s (@trav1sp_).
Then user Celeste (@celestial_goth) commented, “I would love to hear the conversation between the building manager and fire marshall [sic] about this call.”
Meanwhile ,another commenter sees it as an opportunity: “Personally, I am hanging in there for a while and turning off my phone. this is a smoke break from the universe when you think about it,” says Yoda (@legoyoda69).
What Are The Laws Around Locked Public Doors?
In New York State, public buildings are always required to have a means of egress (exit). The law stipulates, “It shall be unlawful to obstruct or impede access to any required means of egress, including any exit, exit access, or exit discharge.”
The City of Albany did not immediately reply to an email request for comment.