TULSA - A man was arrested Tuesday after police say he was found unconscious in the closet of a house he allegedly broke into this week.
Man breaks into home, ransacks it, nearly passes out from Rx drugs, is found by homeowner's daughter: TPD pic.twitter.com/NNPws6sbTP
— Max Resnik (@meresnik) May 31, 2016
Tulsa police say Neil Burch, 21, was arrested after being discovered in the master bedroom closet in a home located at the 2700th block of South 79th East Avenue. The daughter of the homeowner, who was checking on the house while her mother was out of town, found Burch and called authorities.
Right now, they believe the burglary was a random break-in.
Tulsa police say that Burch broke into the home around 3 p.m. on Monday and entered through the back window. He then allegedly tried to steal from the home, placing the items by the back door.
Police went on to say that Burch took some prescription medication and passed out in the home's closet.
“In the middle of his burglary, he must have found some opiates — opiate medications. He took the drugs in the middle of his burglary and just couldn’t stay awake long enough to complete,” said Cpl. Mark Shelton.
Cpl. Shelton told 2 Works for You that Burch was possibly asleep in the closet for around 16 hours. He went on to say that while Burch appeared to still be feeling the symptoms of the drug, he was coherent enough to understand that he was being arrested.
“It’s a big problem in Tulsa right now. We’ve got burglars who sometimes will go into a house and leave very obvious, nice loot in the house. But you go into the medicine cabinet and it’s been completely rifled through," said Shelton.
Tulsa police went on to say that Burch requested to be taken to a nearby hospital because of the drugs in his system. After being cleared, Burch allegedly attempted to escape by slipping his handcuffs in the parking lot. A Tulsa detective and a cop were forced to chase after him and a fight ensued between the three. Eventually Burch was back in custody and all three were treated and released.
Burch is also a registered sex offender in the state of Oklahoma. Tulsa police say he is wanted on four felony warrants. Currently, police believe Burch may be related to several other burglaries in Tulsa, though they haven't been connected to Burch at this time.
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