A Little Torch Key woman woke up Friday to find a man in her house without her permission. He was arrested a short time later for burglary.
The victim, who lives on State Road 4A, told Deputy Linda Kohout she woke up to her dogs barking just after 10 a.m. and saw a white van in her driveway that she did not recognize. She began to walk around her house and found a man she did not know – later identified as 52 year old Michael Cozad – inside her house. He said “is that boat out front for sale?” She told him to get out of her house and she called the Sheriff’s Office for help.
She was able to give a description of the van, which was stopped a short distance away. She was able to identify Cozad as the man who had been in her house without her permission.
Cozad, who told detectives he was living in his van in the city of Key West, was arrested, charged with burglary of an occupied dwelling, and he was booked into jail.