It was one for the nice-work-if-you-can-get-it record books: A homeless Florida man managed to live for two weeks in the luxury suite of a soccer stadium, allegedly stealing $1,043 worth of clothing and consuming $250 in food and drinks, reported the Tampa Bay Times.
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Authorities surmise he snuck in with a cleaning crew and was able to stay because cleaning was curtailed during the coronavirus pandemic.
And a cleaning crew is who found him.
Daniel Albert Neja, 39, was arrested last week after an employee found blankets, razors and open cans of shaving cream in a luxury suite of Al Lang Stadium in Tampa Bay, the newspaper reported. He was charged with third-degree felony burglary and first-degree misdemeanor of resisting an officer without violence, with bond set at $5,150.
“A cleaning crew went into one of these suites that no one had gone into for some time due to COVID-19 and noticed there were blankets and shaving cream and a razor,” St. Petersburg police spokeswoman Yolanda Fernandez told WFLA-TV. “Clearly it appeared someone had been living there.”
That prompted staff to review security footage, and they ascertained he’d been living there since July 26.
“He got into the merchandise store and was wearing a bunch of team merchandise,” Fernandez told CNN. “He made himself quite at home there.”
He was “wearing the merchandise and just helping himself to the food,” Fernandez told WFLA.
Authorities were a bit flummoxed as to how he escaped detection for so long, given that employees are at the stadium every day, though it is closed to fans.
The stadium holds 7,500 and is home to the professional soccer team the Tampa Bay Rowdies, according to the Bradenton Herald.
“It’s very unusual, and it’s the sort of thing that probably would only happen during COVID,” Fernandez told CNN. “Under normal circumstances that stadium would be full of people, and luxury suites would be in use and cleaned regularly.”