An Echo Park resident made a disturbing discovery over Mother’s Day weekend when he found a stranger sleeping nude in his bed.

Michael Duarte, an NBC4 sports writer, found his home ransacked late Saturday night. Food from his pantry and fridge had been taken out and his miscellaneous items were found scattered across his kitchen.

“My first thought was – did some wild animal come into my home and damage everything?” he said.

Upon closer inspection, the homeowner noticed the glass of his back door had been smashed and used as a means to break in. While surveying his home, Duarte took a look into his bedroom and saw a man sleeping in his bed.

“To see a man not just sleeping in my bed, but completely naked sleeping in my bed … I was shocked,” he said. “Like Goldilocks from the Three Bears, and someone’s sleeping in my bed instead of the little bear.”

Following the alarming discovery, Duarte told his friend, who was waiting in a nearby car, to call police. Officers then arrived, dressed the man and took him to jail.

“As he was being walked away in cuffs and thrown into the back of the squad car, he was yelling to me and my friend and also the officers, ‘I’m going to kill you,’” Duarte said.

As if the break-in wasn’t enough, the intruder helped himself to the resident’s kitchen and ransacked the home in a bizarre way. The man clogged the toilet with towels, ate a box of ice cream sandwiches, ate a box of Beyond Beef burger patties and raided Duarte’s stash of chewing gum.

“I had a fresh pack with 60 inside unopened,” he said. “He opened it up, chewed all of them and then spit a big wad of gum about … the size of a softball.”

The intruder also killed a possum on the back patio by using a statue.

Neighbors said the bizarre break-in has left the neighborhood shaken.

“It definitely changes how you think about things and how safe you really are,” said Lindsey Savino, who lives in the community.

Law enforcement has not released the name of the suspected intruder. The case remains under investigation.

Kaitlyn Santa Juana in Final Destination Bloodlines.

Eric Milner/Warner Bros. Pictures

hide caption

toggle caption

Advertisement

Eric Milner/Warner Bros. Pictures

Kaitlyn Santa Juana in Final Destination Bloodlines.

Eric Milner/Warner Bros. Pictures

You can’t beat death. That’s the message of the Final Destination film franchise. Almost 15 years after the last new installment, we’re back with Final Destination Bloodlines, a movie all about the fact that you really, really, really can’t beat death. It will come for you, and in fact, it may come for your whole family — in the most convoluted, bloody, gnarly ways it possibly can.

Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopculture

Tyla’s Too Hot To Handle
Jamaica Vacay …
Ya Mon!

Published May 16, 2025 2:08 PM PDT