Cops: St. Charles Man Confronts Naked, Drunk Intruder In His Home, Holds Him At Gunpoint

Joseph Mahoney.
Joseph Mahoney.

Update below: A St. Charles County resident woke up in the middle of the night on Wednesday to find a naked, drunk man pounding on his bedroom door.

Joseph Mahoney, 24, reportedly broke into a home on Willis Drive near St. Peters at around 4:30 a.m., managed to find his way to the resident's bedroom -- and started banging.

It's not exactly clear at this time why Mahoney entered this home or why he had no clothes on, but deputies say he appeared drunk.

The resident immediately got his shotgun and held the nude man at gunpoint.

When cops arrived, the Post-Dispatch reports, Mahoney was sitting naked on the living room floor, "mumbling incoherently and with an odor of an alcoholic beverage."

Police say it appears he managed to break in through a back door and find his way to the bedroom where he started banging at the door.

Mahoney -- who lives on Catamaran Drive in Lake Saint Louis -- is facing a wide range of charges. That includes first-degree burglary, property damage, and, presumably because he had no clothes on, sexual misconduct charges.

Update, 1:10 p.m.: Daily RFT heard back from St. Charles County Prosecuting Attorney Timothy Lohmar, who gives us some more details on the break-in and the investigation. It remains a mystery why the suspect ended up at this location -- and why he was naked, he says.

"We don't have any idea why he was where he was," Lohmar says. "There was no real connection that we can make between him and the neighborhood and him and the owner.... From everything we can tell, as odd as it seems, it was a totally random situation."

From early accounts, it seems clear that Mahoney was, however, not in a right frame of mind, he says.

Cops: St. Charles Man Confronts Naked, Drunk Intruder In His Home, Holds Him At Gunpoint
via KSDK

"We know he was extremely intoxicated," he says. "When he was getting arrested, he was mumbling incoherently and not making a lot of sense."

He confirms that, based on the victim's account, Mahoney had banged on the bedroom door of the homeowner who immediately got his shotgun and pointed it at the intruder -- who just happened to be naked.

Police don't know why he had no clothes and Lohmar says that he's not aware of Mahoney offering any statements since his arrest with more details.

"We don't know at what point he was naked, because his clothes weren't anywhere to be found," Lohmar says.

Mahoney damaged the doorframe when he broke in, he says.

Lohmar adds that based on the charges -- two misdemeanor counts and one felony count -- Mahoney could eventually be sentenced to anywhere from five to fifteen years.

He remains in custody.

Here's KSDK's report on the nude break-in.

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