Underwear-clad intruder searching for tennis balls arrested

A man who claimed he was looking for tennis balls for his friend's dog roamed around a Florida neighbourhood near Ormond Beach wearing nothing but his torn boxer shorts early on Wednesday. But 41-year-old Charles Snowden also rifled through the kitchen drawer of Karyna Foster who lives on Woodcrest Drive, according to a Volusia County sheriff's report. For Foster, the sight of an almost nude stranger standing in her kitchen was a rude awakening. "He totally did not know I was there," Foster said after the strange episode. "He was in his underwear. It was torn. I have no idea how he tore it."

It was just after 7 a.m. and Foster had just woken up after receiving a telephone call from her brother. She said she was happy she could stay in bed for a few extra minutes because it was her day off. But then she heard a sound coming from the kitchen of her mobile home. Worried because she has three small children and also because her sister was sleeping on the couch, Foster walked toward the kitchen. That's when she spotted Snowden looking through her silverware drawer.



Not one to stay quiet under normal circumstances, Foster said she somehow knew that this time she should not say a word. "I just wanted him out of the house so I could call 911," she said. "He walked right by me." Foster said she watched Snowden walk to another neighbour's front yard. When deputies arrived, they spotted Snowden at Woodcrest and Arroyo Parkway, an arrest report shows. When they approached the suspect, who lives a couple of blocks away on Myrtle Jo Drive, he told deputies he was looking for tennis balls for his friend's dog.

He was arrested and charged with unarmed burglary of an occupied dwelling. Sheriff's spokesman Brandon Haught said Snowden was "under the influence of an unknown substance. Foster also said Snowden was "out of it." Regardless, the mother of three was grateful that Snowden left her residence without hurting anyone. "I don't know what he was looking for," Foster said. "It was scary." Snowden was issued an orange jail jumpsuit and was being held Wednesday at the Volusia County Branch Jail on $1,500 bail.