Man ‘obviously living’ in crawl space of Happy Valley apartment complex charged with burglary

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A man is facing burglary and other charges after taking illegal occupancy in the crawl space of someone else’s property, improving its condition, then leaving meth paraphernalia inside, authorities said.

The 40-year-old suspect was arrested on Wednesday night after the investigation into reported suspicious activity at a condominium complex at Southeast Old Town Court in unincorporated Clackamas County near Happy Valley, the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office said.

According to the sheriff’s office, someone reported seeing a man at the complex parking lot who was not known to live there. He was then seen walking to the back of one of the buildings. The witness then said they noticed the door to a crawl space was open, with light coming from it, before seeing the door close.

“When deputies arrived, they noticed the door to the crawl space was damaged and now locked. An extension cord was seen running through a vent. After contacting the owner, deputies were told that nobody was supposed to be down there and that there shouldn’t be any lights on inside. The owner also reported that they had heard strange noises coming from the crawl space before,” the sheriff’s office said in a press release.

After deputies forcibly breached the door of the crawl space when the owners’ keys given to them wouldn’t work, they located the suspect.

“He had taken significant steps to improve the conditions of the crawl space and was obviously living inside,” the sheriff’s office said. “Deputies observed a bed, lights, chargers, TVs, and other electronics plugged into the power of the house. Deputies estimate he had been living there for an extended period of time. A pipe with white residue that tested positive for methamphetamine was also found.”

The suspect, Benjamin Bucur, was booked into the Clackamas County Jail and faces charges of first-degree burglary and unlawful possession of meth. His bail has been set to $75,000.