- Props to the homeowner and her family for being very understanding about the whole thing.
If your home has a suitable opening, something will like to crawl through it. It could be a stink bug coming in through a crack in the windowsill, a squirrel nesting in your attic, or a raccoon trespassing in your garage.
Or it could be a naked guy living in your crawlspace.
Recently, a senior lady in California got quite a surprise visitor in her home. For a long time, she’d been hearing strange noises from under her house.
She had never paid them any particular mind, figuring it was just some animal rummaging in the crawlspace. But when the noises got strangely loud and communicative one night, she called the police to check what was happening.
It turned out that there was a naked man under the house. He had been staying there for quite a while and he didn’t want to leave.
After hours of negotiations, the police eventually ended up gassing the man out. He has since been arrested for trespassing — and has hopefully received some clothes.
Noises from the Floor
The strange scene happened in El Sereno, a neighborhood in Eastside Los Angeles. Fans of Fear the Walking Dead might recognize the area from the show’s first season.
Anyhow, here we find the house of a 93-year-old lady. She hasn’t been named in the media, which is probably understandable considering the shock she just received.
You see, a few months ago, she started hearing noises emanating from under the house’s floorboards. The noises ranged from scratching to banging and other similar sounds.
However, the woman wasn’t too bothered about the whole thing. She and her family thought it was simply a raccoon, a stray cat, or some other critter that was seeking temporary shelter.
“It was usually late at night, and we just chucked it off to animals being under the house,” Ricardo Silva, the woman’s son-in-law, told NBC Los Angeles.
However, the woman started getting worried when the noises didn’t stop. Weeks turned to months and something was still scratching around under her home.
And then came November 7. On that night, the sounds got much louder than usual — and they became eerily regular.
“The noises were kind of like knocking. As my wife was walking, they were kind of knocking back from under the house so she says, you know, something’s wrong,” recalled Silva.
Now very concerned, the woman and her family called the police to come and see what on earth the thing under the house was. When the cops arrived and peered into the crawlspace, they discovered that there was no animal, alien, or other beast in there.
No, it was just a naked man.
Bring on the Gas
The man under the house was — as he was later identified — 27-year-old Issac Betancourt. According to all evidence, he had been staying in his impromptu shelter for a long time.
The crawlspace of the elderly lady’s home isn’t exactly large or easy to access. It’s only about two feet high and has three entryways, one of which is blocked.
Yet, according to the woman’s family, Betancourt had been staying in the crawlspace for up to six months. He obviously had grown attached to his little hole.
We’re saying that because he didn’t want to get out.
When the attending police officers found Betancourt, they first tried to coax him out by talking to him. However, the man refused to budge, so they brought in K9 dogs — to no avail.
Silva recalled that the man simply wasn’t afraid of the police dogs. After several hours of negotiations and dog tactics, the cops decided to resort to tear gas.
Yet, even that didn’t produce immediate results. “The first two attempts at gas didn’t fish him out,” said Silva.
Eventually, however, staying under the home got unbearable and Betancourt crawled out, still in his birthday suit. He was promptly arrested and has been charged with trespassing.
The whole incident understandably caused the old woman and her family significant stress. Additionally, due to the tear gas, they had to find another place to sleep for the night.
Even then, however, they don’t seem to bear a grudge toward Betancourt. If anything, they’re very understanding.
“It’s a bizarre thing, but it’s not probably uncommon. In this day and age, people are looking for shelter,” Silva mused.
All that said, the senior lady doesn’t want her crawlspace to turn into a homeless shelter. So, her family has now secured all entries to the crawlspace.