Tulsa Homeowner Finds A Man Trying To Stay Warm Sleeping In Vacant Home

NewsOn6.com

TULSA, Oklahoma -- A Tulsa businessman held a man at gunpoint after finding the man sleeping in a home he's been renovating.

Police say the owner went to check the home around midnight near 18th and Detroit. A friend had told him a man had been spotted earlier in the evening sitting on the porch, and the owner was worried about the brand new appliances he'd installed in the house.

When the owner opened the door he saw that the alarm had been activated.  He also saw all his power tools, which had been locked up, sitting in bags by the door. 

He announced he had a gun and that the intruder had 30 seconds to surrender.  A search turned up the intruder hiding under a drop cloth in a back room.  The owner allowed the man to put on his pants and shoes, then got neighbors to call police.

The owner says the intruder had set the thermostat to 90 degrees and had also started a space heater the owner used during the renovation project.  He says the temperature was reading 86 degrees.

Neither the homeowner nor the suspect was hurt.

The suspect was taken to the Tulsa County jail on a complaint of 2nd degree burglary.