BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Monitor Editor
LAKE BUTLER— A Lulu man told Union deputies that drones led him to break into a Lake Butler residence and watch television before falling asleep in a spare bedroom.
Matthew Edward Odom, 46, was arrested by deputies on March 18 after a woman discovered the intruder snoozing in a bedroom next to her own.
The victim told Deputy Staci L. Stock that she discovered the man after waking up.
“(The victim) told me that she woke up and went to put something into the room next to hers when she discovered the suspect sleeping in her spare bed,” wrote Stock in an arrest report. “(The victim) told me that she quietly went to her bedroom, locked the door, armed herself and then called 911.”
Stock wrote that the defendant may have entered the home through a front door left unlocked.
“There were no signs of forced entry,” she wrote. “It appeared that prior to entering the house, Odom took off his shoes and pants, leaving them on the front porch along with a large, plastic box with his belongings. It appeared he sat down and watched television prior to trying to locate the most comfortable bed in which to sleep.”
The deputy added that it appeared Odom tried out an upstairs bedroom before settling on the room next to the homeowner.
Stock wrote that Odom appeared to be under the influence of methamphetamine or some other mind-altering drug.
“He kept telling Deputy Johnson and I that he was led to this house by the drones,” Stock wrote. “He said, ‘Just check the SD cards and you will see that the drones led me here.’”
Stock wrote that the case was turned over to the sheriff’s office investigations unit and that a detective collected several SD cards among the defendant’s belongings.
