The stress of an hourlong police chase on foot may have been exhaustive for a 19-year-old Riverside man, who was discovered Christmas morning sleeping on a stranger's couch with his shoes off several hours after police say he burglarized a nearby home.
The suspect said his evening began with a few swigs of marshmallow vodka but ended with him fast asleep on the couch, his time in the interim a mystery, though authorities said they can account for his missing hours.
Police in west suburban Riverside said that Howard Brundage broke into an apartment in the 7300 block of Ogden Avenue at about 2 a.m. Sunday and stole a bicycle, Riverside police said in a news release.
The resident's call to police led to a foot chase through several nearby backyards and a perimeter being set up by several neighboring police agencies until the search was called off an hour later, authorities said.
At about 8 a.m., a female homeowner in the 3700 block of Haas Avenue called police, saying a male was inside her home.
When police arrived, they found Brundage asleep on the couch. He later told officers that he didn't know why he was in the home and the last thing that he remembered was drinking marshmallow-flavored vodka earlier in the night, police said.
Brundage, of Riverside, was identified in a live police lineup Monday and was charged with felony residential burglary, criminal trespass to a residence and criminal damage to property, police said.
His arrest makes the fourth arrest for residential burglary made by Riverside police within the past 10 days, officials said.
Copyright 2011 - Chicago Tribune
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
