Florida Man Hides In Pile Of Insulation To Evade Arrest During Burglary Attempt

A Florida man got into an itchy situation as he hid in a pile of construction insulation while trying to escape from cops during a burglary attempt.

Deputies from Lee County Sheriff's Office responded to reports of a burglary in progress at a residence in North Fort Myers on Sunday. When they reached the scene, they were informed that an unknown man entered the residence and was hiding inside.

They heard someone's footsteps in the home's attic. Officers found a five-gallon bucket near the access point to the attic and insulation debris on the floor, NYPost reported.

The deputies gave multiple warnings to the suspect but he did not come down. Officers were then forced to use non-lethal gas, Lee County Sheriff's deputies said in a Facebook post Wednesday. Even then the suspect refused to surrender to the deputies.

"However, the suspect made a rash decision and refused to come down," the post added.

After several failed attempts to bring the man down, deputies sent a K-9 unit to the attic. The suspect, later identified as 44-year-old Bruce Davis, was found buried in a pile of insulation with his face pressed against an air duct system to allow him to breathe, reported WFLA.

Cops also found a "broken window, appliances in use and tools scattered throughout" the house.

The sheriff's office shared a picture of the insulation debris with two hands poking straight out of the rubble. Another picture showed Davis standing with his black clothes, hair and beard all covered in white insulation residue.

Davis was arrested and charged with burglary and resisting an officer. He was booked into the Lee County Jail and his bond was set at $31,500. Details regarding the items he stole from the residence and the identities of the homeowners were not revealed.

The man had a long-running criminal history, including theft and drug charges, court records showed.

In an unrelated incident, an intruder was stabbed to death following an encounter with a homeowner in Ohio in January. While responding to reports of a burglary, police found Michael Harper, 44, lying unconscious on the kitchen floor with stab wounds. The homeowner's wife said Harper walked into their home through an unlocked back door and tried to stab her husband. Acting promptly, the husband took the knife from the intruder's hand and stabbed him.