Sisters burglary suspect caught in bed, runs, but caught fast

Resident says he arrived home to find transient sleeping in his bed

SISTERS, Ore. (KTVZ) – It didn’t take long Wednesday for Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies to catch a suspect in a home burglary after a resident came home to find a stranger sleeping in his bed.

Deputies were dispatched around 3 p.m. to a home in the 200 block of South Elm Street regarding a burglary, Sgt. William Bailey said.

The suspect, later identified as transient Thomas J. Bauer, 34, ran when confronted by the resident and last had been seen near Village Green Park, Bailey said.

The resident also reported the man had taken items from the residence – marijuana and a portable battery power bank, Bailey said.

Deputies were on scene within two minutes and began searching for the suspect. Bauer was found a short time later in a public restroom at Village Green Park and deputies recovered the stolen items in his pockets, the sergeant said.

Bauer was taken to the county jail in Bend and booked on first-degree burglary and second-degree theft charges. He was held on $30,000 bail.