Police: Man baked potato, raked leaves during break-in

HOBBS, N.M. (AP) – A New Mexico man is facing charges after police said he walked into an unlocked home, stole car keys and stunned a resident who found him baking a potato and raking leaves.

Patrick Lynn Waits, 45, was arrested early Tuesday following a bizarre chain of events that confused residents of a Hobbs home, the Hobbs News-Sun reports.

A female resident awoke to noise in her kitchen, and found Waits allegedly wiping down a counter top and baking a potato in her microwave oven, police said.

She asked him what he was doing there, and he told her he was making a potato, according to a police report.

When told to leave, a criminal complaint says Waits walked outside and left his potato in the microwave.

The report said Waits then went outside to rake leaves in the front yard.

The female resident convinced Waits to stay by saying she wanted to pay him for his service, police said. The move was apparently a ploy to get Waits to stay long enough before authorities arrived, police said.

Waits was found stumbling while walking, and he slurred when he talked, officials said.

Waits was arrested on burglary and unlawful entry charges. He also faces several felony warrants for failure to appear in court.

It was not known if Waits had an attorney.