Semi-Nude Man Arrested: Was It Attempted Burglary or Mere Prank?

The only thing left? A pile of the would-be burglar’s clothing.
A pair of pants, a sock and a shoe were left at the scene of the crime on the lawn of Rick Citron who lives in the Huntington.
According to Citron, a young, Caucasian male was arrested on Saturday, March 14 at about 11 p.m. for attempted burglary.
While the Citron family vacationed in Mexico, the house-sitter was alone and asleep when she heard banging on the front door.
Speaking on behalf of their sitter, who wished to remain anonymous, Citron said she immediately called 9-1-1 and warned the intruder that the police were on their way.

“[The sitter] told us that the young man was half nude and pulling shutters off our windows,” Citron said. “There was also an SUV, as described by our sitter, that was loaded with a bunch of young men egging on the half-nude gentleman banging on our door.”
Citron doesn’t believe the motive was theft.
“[The intruder] was either stoned out of his mind or undergoing initiation to join a gang or a fraternity, because he wasn’t really trying to break in,” Citron said.
According to Citron, the house-sitter said that when the police car sirens could be heard approaching the house, the SUV took off, but the partially nude intruder was still trying to break down the door.
“He didn’t stop until the police threatened to taser him,” Citron said. “Only when he was lying face down were they able to restrain and arrest him.”
The ordeal left Citron’s house-sitter shaken and traumatized.
“They don’t realize they could have killed someone, she (the sitter) could have had a heart attack, she was so scared,” he said.
Citron sent a personal warning to anyone even considering trespassing on his property again: “If he would’ve gotten into our house when I was home, it wouldn’t have ended well for the young man.”
Living in the Huntington for 33 years, Citron and his wife said their neighborhood is usually quiet. From what Citron can recall, only two other incidents have occurred during his three-decade residency in the Palisades.
The longtime resident said, “This is a great, safe place to live. We absolutely love living here and love our community.”
Citron is taking his wife to the shooting range to brush up on her skills and they are upgrading their security system, just in case.
LAPD Senior Lead Officer Michael Moore said there was no information available regarding the arrest records.
According to Citron, who followed up on the case, the young man was taken to the hospital with alcohol poisoning after being arrested. The Citrons’ house-sitter is not pressing charges at the moment.