Family Finds Theft Suspect Hiding Under Bed In Brookline
BROOKLINE (CBS) – A man wanted for allegedly stealing packages was found hiding under a bed in a Brookline home. Police had already swept the house once, but when the Benson family did their own search, they found a foot sticking out.
It was a call Brookline dispatchers don't normally get.
Dispatch: "911, this line is recorded. What's your emergency?"
Caller: "He was hiding under one of the beds, in our house."
Jeffrey Benson has lived on Stearns Road for two decades. He says his wife and two adult kids were home when they found the man hiding under a bed.
"He had been in the house for over an hour under the bed," Benson said. "There was a lot of stuff under that bed. They said he was really skinny. He squeezed between the bed and the wall."
Brookline police say 27-year-old Harry Castillo-Pujols was wanted for allegedly stealing packages from neighboring homes. They searched multiple houses including Benson's to try to find him.
"My son was home the first time when the police came, he came upstairs from the basement and they were there with their guns drawn and then the police left and my wife and my daughter came home an hour later and that's when they came to that room and she saw a foot under the bed," Benson said.
That's when he says his wife screamed and yelled at him to get out.
"He ran past the family when he was coming out and then they saw him climb up over the fence," Benson said.
Police later caught the East Boston man on South Huntington Avenue in Mission Hill. They charged him with several felonies including breaking and entering, larceny and receiving stolen property. As far as the Bensons, they used a different sleeping strategy.
"So they all slept with the lights on and slept in the same room last night so we took care of each other," Benson said.
The suspect is in jail being held on $7500 bail. If he gets out, the judge said he is not allowed back in Brookline.
