Drunk man ate and slept in wrong house

Pinellas deputies say Mark C. Sirben got drunk, went home, cooked up a snack and passed out on the couch early on Friday morning. The trouble was, it wasn't his house, his food or his couch. He wasn't even in the right county.

Sirben, 51, Spring Hill, was charged with trespassing in an occupied structure and criminal mischief. According to arrest reports a married couple were sleeping in their home in Palm Harbor when the wife awoke to the sound of coughing at around 2:30 a.m.



The woman went to investigate and found Sirben asleep on her couch. She woke up her husband, who went to the living room and confronted Sirben. Sirben argued with the husband, telling him that he lived there, before he passed out again. "They had no idea who this guy was," said Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Cecilia Barreda.

When a deputy arrived, Sirben was still asleep on the couch with a plate of food at his side. The couple said Sirben must have cooked something for himself before he fell asleep. "The kitchen cabinets were open and there was food in a frying pan that was not there when he and his wife had gone to bed," Barreda said.