Sandy MaloneNaples, FL – A Naples man was arrested after he broke into his ex-girlfriend’s home, changed her locks, set up a camera, and made himself comfortable on the couch to wait for her.
Brendon Dawson, 32, was caught because he left the door of his ex-girlfriend’s unit open and her dog escaped, WFTX reported.
A neighbor noticed the dog loose and saw the door to her neighbor’s home was wide open, so she grabbed the pooch and called the police.
Officers responded to the home in the 1500-block of Curley Avenue and recognized it as an address where they had responded to an attempted break-in recently, WFTX reported.
Police said the front door was seriously damaged and it looked like the entire lock had been dismantled.
Officers knocked and Dawson poked his head out from under a blanket on the living room sofa, WFTX reported.
Police said he gave officers his real name and told them he didn’t know his dog had escaped.
According to police, the house was totally trashed, WFTX reported.
Drawers had been pulled out and dumped, pictures hung broken on the walls, and trash was strewn all over, according to the police report.
Officers were able to contact the victim using the phone number on the earlier police report, WFTX reported.
She told the officers that Dawson didn’t have permission to be there and headed home to deal with the mess.
Officers detained Dawson and searched his backpack, WFTX reported.
They found an eight-inch curved blade, 35 Amphetamine pills and 34 Clonazepam pills, several prescription medications, and two cut straws for snorting drugs, according to the police report.
Police said that when the homeowner got there, she spotted a camera by the entrance that she said Dawson must have installed after he broke in, WFTX reported.
She told police that Dawson had been breaking into her home repeatedly for the past three weeks and said she was afraid he had set up more cameras that she hadn’t found.
The victim also told officers the lock on the front door wasn’t hers, WFTX reported.
She said Dawson must have changed the locks after he broke in.
The victims said he had tried to change her locks on three other occasions, WFTX reported.
She told police that Dawson won’t stop texting, calling, or threatening her and her daughter.
The victim also said that Dawson had broken in while she was sleeping and she woke to find him standing over her in bed, WFTX reported.
Dawson was arrested and booked into the Collier County jail.
He has been charged with armed burglary, video voyeurism, carrying a concealed weapon, stalking, and multiple drug charges, WFTX reported.
Holly Matkin
