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Naked man arrested after being found in crawlspace of Los Angeles home

A naked man was reportedly arrested Friday after police said he was found in the crawlspace of an elderly woman's home in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles police officers responded to reports of a “possible suspect (seen) under a crawlspace of a home” in the east neighborhood of El Sereno around 10:30 p.m., a statement obtained by USA TODAY said.

The arrest came weeks after the 93-year-old woman and her family kept hearing “strange noises” in their home late at night, NBC4 in Los Angeles reported. Ricardo Silva, the woman's son-in-law, said in an interview that the family “resorted to the animals that were under the house.”

The noise, which grew louder Thursday evening, sounded like a series of repetitive knocks, Silva said in an interview with NBC4 in Los Angeles. The family then decided to call the authorities.

When officers arrived at the home, they found the naked man in the crawlspace. According to the Los Angeles Times and NBC4 in Los Angeles, it took LAPD officers hours to free him from the crawlspace, using gas, police dogs and a SWAT team to lure him out.

“He refused to leave,” Silva told NBC4 in Los Angeles. “He wasn’t afraid of the dogs, and the first two attempts to accelerate didn’t fish him out.”

The situation was “bizarre,” says a relative

The family wasn't sure how long the man had been in the crawlspace, but suspected he may have been there for a few months. Silva said they plan to “secure” the crawlspace to prevent future incidents, according to NBC4 in Los Angeles.

“It's a bizarre thing, but it's probably not unusual, you know, these days people are seeking shelter,” Silva told NBC4 in Los Angeles.

According to the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, he was taken into custody around 4:30 a.m. Friday and charged with trespassing. He has since been released.

His next court date is scheduled for Friday, December 6th.

The LAPD declined to offer further information.

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