Just when you thought that you have seen every bizarre crime, Roberto Daniel Arroyo steps forward. Police in Salina, California are looking for Arroyo who was caught on surveillance video licking a family’s doorbell for three hours and then relieving himself in the front yard.
Arroyo, 33, was first videotaped around 2 a.m and continued until 5 a.m. The mother and father were not home for much of the time but their kids were. The mother was alerted by their security system of movement outside the door. Police spokesperson Miguel Cabrera told KION News that the image was so clear that they identified Arroyo easily.
He is described as a transient with three prior arrests: Being Under the Influence of Narcotics; Public Intoxication, and Resisting Arrest.
The issue is the charge. What is the crime in doorbell licking. The police decided on prowling as one of two misdemeanors.
Under California Penal Code section 647(h) prowling covers lingering, loitering, or wandering in the property of another without a lawful purpose or for the purpose of committing a crime if the opportunity arose. However, that is just a misdemeanor punishable by up to 180 days in county jail and a maximum fine of $1,000. For someone with a doorbell fetish, that could be viewed as a cost of doing business.