Over the holidays, people are used to opening their homes to family members and friends that don’t usually come around to visit. Some people love this, others loathe it, but the point is that they expect it. Nosy relatives snooping around isn’t uncommon and, though their 48-hour visit may seem like an eternity, they’ll soon disperse to their own homes.
A replacement steel door or front door averages a 97.2% return on investment and we think one Maine resident might need to consider replacing his doors after coming home to quite a surprise. He came home one afternoon to find a complete stranger sitting in his living room, watching television, and wearing some of his clothes. The intruder had also helped himself to some snacks and beverages from the refrigerator after taking a shower. The homeowner was obviously surprised by this person and asked the intruder what he was doing.
Quick enough on his feet, the 35-year-old intruder proceeded to convince the man whose home he was in that he mistook this house for his friend’s house. What’s more? He even got the homeowner to drive him to another place. It wasn’t until after the homeowner dropped the intruder off elsewhere and returned to his own house that he discovered the back door had been forced open.
Quick recap: homeowner finds an intruder in his home, intruder tells homeowner it was an oopsie, intruder convinces the homeowner to drive him to another place, homeowner obliges.
“The (resident) thought the scenario was unusual but plausible, so he agreed to drive the man to a house in Hollis. He said he wanted to get the man out of his house, so he agreed to drive him ‘home,’” reported York County Sheriff Bill King.
Apparently the intruder, Derek Tarbox, had allegedly been involved with a couple of stolen vehicles. The most recent one he abandoned after crashing it in a nearby forest. Only then did he decide he’d break into a home, change into some new clothes, have something to eat/drink, shower, and relax.
The police found him later and he was arrested while still wearing the clothes that belonged to the burgled man. He faces multiple charges including burglary, unauthorized use of property, property damage, and theft.
This isn’t the first odd break-and-enter story. Earlier this year, a California teen broke into a house during the night to use their WiFi.
Theft is an all too common problem in the U.S.. Research from the NICB shows that there were 126,603 vehicle thefts between the years 2012 and 2014 as a result of owners leaving their keys in the cars. And according to the FBI, the average value of property taken during larceny-thefts amounted to $988 per offense. If you apply this average to the estimated total of larceny-thefts, victims across the nation lost over $6.1 billion.
One final word of advice: if you don’t live there, don’t go inside.
