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Sep 18, 2007 11:25 pm US/Eastern
Exclusive: Man Found In N.J. Garage Of Squalor
Cops: Den Had Hundreds Of Beer Cans, Piles Of Feces
POMPTON PLAINS, N.J. (CBS) ―
A suburban garage on the outside, but behind those closed doors police found a disgusting den for an otherwise homeless man.
"There was a ladder leading up to a loft are where investigators located a large pile of feces, a tub full of urine," said Pequannock Police Lt. Dan Dooley.
Pequannock police also discovered 200 empty beer cans. Somehow the homeowner, in her 90s, had no idea her former handyman had parked himself in her garage for months.
"It was a 91-year-old female and I don't know how many elderly people check their garage," Lt. Dooley said.
Just a few houses away a man tried to sexually assault a 5-year-old girl last week, climbing into her bedroom window in the middle of the night. It's a case that remains unsolved. It may sound cliché but this quiet neighborhood is shocked by a sudden lack of security.
"We never worry," one neighbor said. "Like many people say we don't lock our doors and now we do. Now you make sure that your windows are shut."
And while police say the 50-year-old squatter is not suspected of being the child molester, detectives did discover his hiding place while canvassing the neighborhood after the attempted rape.
"It's made everyone aware just how vulnerable we all are even in a safe community," one neighbor said.
The homeless man is charged only with trespassing in the detached garage. Oddly, if the garage was attached to the house it would be considered a dwelling under New Jersey law, and the man could have faced felony burglary charges.
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