A transient man is accused of entering a stranger’s Hazel Dell apartment in the middle of the night, stripping naked and helping himself to a bottle of whiskey, court records say.
Brandon L. Witters, 37, appeared Thursday in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of residential burglary stemming from the Saturday morning incident at the Ardenwood Station Apartments, 9511 N.E. Hazel Dell Ave. Judge John Fairgrieve set bail at $35,000, court records show.
Jason Huggins said he awoke about 3 a.m. when his dog started barking. When Huggins went out to his living room, he spotted pants and shoes on the floor that didn’t belong to him. He then discovered a naked man, later identified as Witters, hiding behind a chair, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
Huggins yelled at the man to leave his apartment, but Witters shouted back and swung a half-gallon plastic whiskey bottle at Huggins’ head. The bottle belonged to Huggins, he said, and it was taken from his freezer, the affidavit says.
Huggins punched Witters in the side of the head to avoid being assaulted and threatened to call police, according to the affidavit.
Witters, still naked, fled out the back door, and Huggins threw his clothes outside. A few minutes later, however, Witters returned and knocked on Huggins’ sliding glass door to ask for his wallet. Huggins told him to leave; he later found the wallet, which contained Witters’s identification, the affidavit says.
Huggins told a Clark County sheriff’s deputy that he left the back window open that night because of the heat, and left the rear sliding door unlocked. He said the ID left behind matched the man who had entered his apartment. When presented with a photo montage, Huggins identified Witters with “75 to 85 percent” certainty, according to the affidavit.
Witters had been released from the Clark County Jail three days before the incident, the affidavit says. He is listed as homeless with a history of mental health issues, court records show. He was arrested Tuesday in Ridgefield. In an interview with deputies, Witters admitted to the burglary and said he was trying to hide from police after a separate burglary that morning, the affidavit says.
Witters is scheduled for arraignment May 29.
