Homeowner Finds Burglary Suspect Passed Out in House
A burglar with a taste for wine was arrested after he downed a bottle in a Burbank house he was attempting to burglarize and passed out on the sofa, police said Thursday.
Elizabeth Roberts, 58, returned home from work Wednesday afternoon to find James Sunderland, 43, of Cayucos, Calif., sprawled on the sofa in the living room of her house in the 2200 block of West Verdugo Avenue, Sgt. Don Goldberg said.
Police said Sunderland pried open a bedroom window and ransacked the house before finding the full bottle of wine. The empty bottle was found by police in the dirt outside the bedroom window.
“He just got drunk and passed out,” Goldberg said.
Officers had a difficult time waking Sunderland, but when they did, he was arrested on suspicion of residential burglary and held in lieu of $10,000 bail. Investigators were unable to interview Sunderland or test his blood-alcohol level because “he was smashed,” Goldberg said.
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