Burglary Suspect Tripped Up By Red Underwear
Witness ID's teen's boxers after wardrobe malfunction
OCTOBER 4--A suspected teenage burglar whose shorts fell down as he fled after being confronted last night on a Florida street was later arrested after a witness was able to identify him by his boxer shorts, police reported.
As detailed in a Charlotte County Sheriff's Office report, witness Donna Decker called 911 to report spotting a suspicious male wearing a black hoodie inside an unlocked 1991 Dodge pickup in a Port Charlotte parking lot.
When the 65-year-old Decker approached, the teenager exited the vehicle, which he claimed was owned by his grandfather. Suspicious, Decker told the minor that he would have to wait there until police responded to the scene. Instead, the teen sprinted away.
His getaway, though, was not a smooth one. The teenager’s shorts slipped down his legs, exposing his red boxer shorts to Decker (and anyone else in the vicinity). The underage suspect, the witness noted, disappeared into a nearby apartment building.
After deputies arrived, a brief canvass located Antonio Kleiss, 14, in his grandmother’s apartment. He still had on the black hoodie and tan shorts described by Decker.
To cement Kleiss’s ID, an underwear check revealed that the teen was wearing red boxers. Decker, deputies reported, “asked him to pull down his tan shorts a little and he revealed that he was wearing red boxer shorts underneath.”
A subsequent search of the apartment turned up an ignition part that was boosted from the unlocked Dodge. As a result, Kleiss, pictured above, was charged with felony burglary and attempted grand theft. After being briefly booked into the county jail, the teenager was released to the custody of a parent and placed on 21 days home detention, according to investigators.
The sheriff's report notes that deputies confiscated Kleiss's hoodie, shirt, shorts, and red underwear, which "were taken and placed into evidence via property receipt." (2 pages)
