A naked man found living under an elderly woman’s home in California has reportedly been arrested.
On Thursday, Nov. 7, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) came across the man in question in the crawl space underneath the El Sereno property after the woman, thought to be in her early ’90s, kept hearing strange noises, per NBC News, KCAL News and KTLA.
It reportedly took officers several hours to get the man out, the woman’s grandson told KCAL News. The outlet reported the man finally surrendered around 4:30 a.m. local time on Friday morning after police used gas.
Officers found blankets and food under the property when they discovered the man, per the outlet.
A stock photo of a police cruiser.
Getty
The woman’s son-in-law, Ricardo Silva, said the noises they had heard for weeks were “usually late at night, and we just chucked it off to animals being under the house,” per NBC News.
“The noises were kind of like knocking. It was kind of like, as my wife was walking, they were kind of knocking back from under the house so she says, ‘You know something’s wrong,’ ” Silva added of the sounds, which had gotten louder by Nov. 7, per the outlet.
According to NBC News and KTLA, the man has since been identified as Issac Betancourt.
It’s not clear how long Betancourt had been living under the elderly woman’s home, but her family suspect he may have been there for up to six months, NBC News reported.
The outlet stated Betancourt was now facing charges including trespassing.
Per Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department inmate records viewed by PEOPLE, Betancourt, 27, was arrested on a misdemeanor charge on Nov. 8, released on Nov. 9 and is now scheduled to appear before a judge on Dec. 6.
According to KTLA, the man was not for moving initially from the crawl space and police had to use “police dogs and rubber bullets without success,” before tear gas was eventually used.
“It’s a bizarre thing, but it’s not probably uncommon, you know. In this day and age, people are looking for shelter,” Silva said, per the TV station.
“He refused to leave. He wasn’t scared of the dogs, and the first two attempts at gas didn’t fish him out,” Silva added of the man, according to NBC News.
The LAPD didn’t immediately respond when contacted by us.
