Cops bust sleeping intruder at Massillon Road home

By Cleveland 19 Digital Team and Brian Duffy | August 14, 2014 at 9:34 PM EST - Updated July 20 at 11:35 PM

Justin Meyers (Source: Springfield Township Police Department)

SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP, OH (WOIO) - Springfield Township Officers were dispatched to a residence, when a home owner discovered an intruder was still inside her home -- sleeping!

The incident occurred at a Massillon Road home around 7 a.m. on Thursday.

"I was just upset. What is someone doing in my house?" said Sheila Whited.

When officers arrived, 21-year-old Justin Meyers, of Springfield Township, was attempting to flee the scene.

The 61-year-old home owner said when she woke up in the morning, she found the intoxicated stranger sleeping on her couch. She hit his leg to wake him up.

"When the kid finally woke up and raised his head, I went, 'Oh my God! I don't even know who that is!'" said Whited.

After Whited called police, she made sure Meyers stayed until they showed up.

"I didn't get to be 61 and a biker steel magnolia for nothing. I wasn't leaving. He was just a young kid. I could have taken him, no problem," said Whited.

Then Whited said Meyers tried to take food out of the refrigerator.

"When we arrived, she was in the doorway and he was trying to leave, and she was telling him, 'No. You're going to stay here until the police talk to you,'" said Sgt. Eric East with Springfield Township Police.

Investigators noted signs of forced entry on the front door.

Police say Meyers was very drunk and could not tell officers why he was in Whited's home. He said all he remembered was drinking with a friend and then needing some sleep.

Meyers was charged with burglary and criminal damaging and was booked into the Summit County Jail.