A naked man was arrested by police after he was found hiding in the basement of a 93-year-old woman's home in El Sereno, California, early Friday morning.
Isaac Betancourt, 27, is believed to have been living in the basement of his home for nearly six months, but he won't go down without a fight.
Los Angeles police said the extraction took hours and required countless resources, including tear gas. Their efforts were so time-consuming that they caused such a commotion that sleeping neighbors looked for another place to spend the night.
“He refused to leave. He wasn't afraid of dogs and even the first two attempts at gasoline couldn't get him out,” said Ricardo Silva, the homeowner's son-in-law. said. NBC News.
Silva and the rest of his family reported hearing strange noises for weeks on end, which they assumed were wild animals. When the noise became too loud to ignore, they called the police.
“The sound was like a knock. It was like they were knocking back from under the house as my wife was walking, and she said, 'I know something's wrong. 'Sho,''' Silva said.
The crawl space itself was only two feet high and had three different doorways spanning the bottom of the house. The family believes the man only used one exit to get in and out freely and plans to board up the restricted area as soon as possible.
“It's strange, but it's probably not unusual. People are looking for shelter in these times,” Silva said.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, Betancourt was arrested on suspicion of trespassing on property. It is unclear whether he has a lawyer.
