Things lurking under your bed is the fixation of almost every child growing up, but a New Jersey homeowner spotted a man under the spare bedroom at 9 p.m. It turned out to be Jason Hubbard, who is charged with burglary after allegedly sleeping under the bed for three days.
Hubbard allegedly snuck into the house on May 7th while the owner took trash out to the corner. He stayed until May 10th when police pulled him from under the bed.
What was interesting was the second charge: stealing electricity. This was based on his allegedly charging his four cellphones in an electrical outlet. Even with four cellphones, the actual values of the electricity is incredibly tiny. Yet, it is an indication of the intention of the police to find any charges to throw at Hubbard for this creepy crime.
Hubbard is being held in Middlesex County Adult Corrections Center on $50,000 bail, which seems likely well beyond the reach of a guy who allegedly sleeps under the beds of homeowners.
Either keep lots of cats under your bed, or lots of junk to keep crooks out of there.
So, Jason wasn’t wearing a hockey mask THIS time. Maybe next time he will have a chainsaw with him. This could have turned into something scarey after he came out from under the bed.
His defense could be that he was staying to avoid the storm. A necessity, which could excuse the criminal charges.
Darren – thanks for the clarification of the stealing electricity charge. Now, what happens if the jury comes to its senses and finds him not guilty on that charge. As a juror, I would see it as a crime of opportunity, not the primary cause of his home invasion.
Intent, is the key factor. If formed after entry then the only charge could be, entry without permission or trespassing.
I think as a prosecutor that this is very much over charged.
I am fairly confident the theft of the electricity charge was to raise the case from a criminal trespass to a burglary. In all states that I am aware of it is necessary to prove either a crime was committed during a criminal trespass or that the defendant entered the residence with the intent to commit a crime.
I am not saying either way if this was a good approach, but I suspect that was the reason for the inclusion of the electricity theft.
DBQ, I was looking at it from his pov. I wouldn’t want him under my bed either, not that I have an under-the-bed spot.