WEST FARGO - Police here say an apparently intoxicated 19-year-old man entered a woman's unlocked apartment Wednesday morning and left his shorts on the building's front step when he left.
It was the second consecutive day that an area female woke up to find a stranger in her house after leaving the doors unlocked at night.
On Tuesday, a 17-year-old girl told Cass County authorities she awoke at 12:57 a.m. Tuesday to find a masked man standing next to her bed in Horace, N.D. The man fled before deputies arrived.
In Wednesday's incident, West Fargo police were called at 3:38 a.m. about a home intrusion in the 800 block of Second Street West.
The resident told police she woke up when a man walked into her apartment and sat down on a living room chair. She said the man's pants were unzipped and unbuttoned, according to the dispatch log.
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Assistant Police Chief Mike Reitan said officers arrived and found a pair of men's shorts on the front step of the apartment building. Officers found a cell phone inside the shorts and were able to track it to Zachary Rudlang, 19, of West Fargo, Reitan said.
Rudlang was arrested on suspicion of minor in consumption, and police are recommending he also be charged with criminal trespass, Reitan said.
He was arrested in the 900 block of Sheyenne Street, about three blocks from the woman's apartment.
Rudlang did not indicate why he was in the apartment, Reitan said.
Reitan urged residents to lock their doors at night.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Mike Nowatzki at (701) 241-5528
