A California family is glad they purchased a home security system a few months ago, now that their new camera caught a stranger allegedly licking their doorbell for three hours.
As KION-TV (Monterey) reports, homeowner Sylvia Dungan just purchased her home security system a few weeks ago. And this week, the new system paid off.
Dungan says that she was out of town while her children were still staying in their Salinas home. It was early in the morning, about 5 a.m., when she got a text message alert that there was movement in front of her door. Checking her camera remotely, she was aghast at what she saw: a prowler licking the doorbell.
Dungan’s children were inside asleep and did not wake up from the commotion. The children’s ages are not clear.
The licking continued, off and on, for three hours, during which time the perp also allegedly relieved himself on a neighbor’s lawn. What’s more, he was seen allegedly stealing extension cords that powered what Christmas decorations were still out, according to the Independent – when he wasn’t licking the Dungans’ doorbell, that is.
Neighbors were simultaneously aghast and amused. Alfred Santos, for example, said he’d never seen anything like it.
“I thought I’ve seen it all, but this takes the cake.”
A California man is facing charges after he was caught doing something bizarre at a home in Salinas early Saturday morning. Roberto Arroyo, 33, was caught on surveillance video licking a homeowner’s intercom system FOR HOURS, Salinas Police Department told The Truth Radio. ? pic.twitter.com/8pK4NIw79d
— The Truth Radio (@TheTruthRadio) January 9, 2019
Dungan, for her part, found the whole thing laughable.
“You kind of laugh about it afterwards because technically he didn’t do anything.”
In fact, the Salinas police believe otherwise. For starters, there’s prowling and petty theft, and they weren’t willing to let the alleged doorbell-licker go just because his crime strikes the victim as funny.
As it turns out, so good was the family’s security camera that police were able to get a clear image of the perp’s face. Miguel Cabrera with Salina Police says via WCMH-TV (Columbus) that it was almost too easy.
“We were pleasantly surprised the image was so clear it didn’t take us long to identify the individual.”
Police later tracked down Roberto Arroyo, according to a follow-up KION-TV report, and charged him with prowling and petty theft. However, because his alleged crimes are misdemeanors, not felonies, they didn’t take him downtown, and instead gave him a notice to appear in court.
It remains unclear, as of this writing, exactly why Arroyo allegedly licked the family’s doorbell off and on for three hours. Dungan, for her part, has seen to it that her doorbell has been wiped clean and sanitized.
