Sleeping on the job got one man arrested Thursday.
A Hillsborough woman said she returned home at about 7:40 a.m. to find items strewn about the house and a man wearing her son’s backpack sleeping on the floor of the master bedroom.
Hillsborough Township Police responded to a 9-1- 1 call of a burglary in progress at a Nostrand Road residence.
Officers said the victim told them she had returned home that morning with her 12-year-old son to find her garage door open. Once inside, they saw items thrown onto the floors in their bedrooms.
In the master bedroom, the homeowner found Alexander T. Torres, 24, of Canal Road, South Bound Brook sleeping on the floor next to her bed — laying face down with a black-colored backpack on his back. After calling 9-1- 1, the victim photographed Mr. Torres before awakening him. Once awoken, he walked out of the house without saying anything to the mother and son, said a statement from the prosecutor’s office.
The woman continued to photograph the defendant as he walked down the street, police said.
Hillsborough patrol units said they quickly apprehended Mr. Torres on Campbell Road. Nearby in a front yard, police located the black backpack bearing the name of the homeowner’s son. The backpack contained electronic items and a dollar coin that the defendant had allegedly taken from the house.
Hillsborough police lodged Mr. Torres in the Somerset County Jail. He was charged with third-degree burglary and theft.
Superior Court Judge Kathy C. Qasim set bail at $50,000. Mr. Torres could pay 10 percent in cash, but, if he does, it is on the condition that he is not to have contact with the victims.
