ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A homeless man has been arrested after he reportedly lived in the luxury suite of a professional soccer stadium for two weeks, wearing the team’s clothing and eating food he found in the facility, reports say.
A cleaning crew discovered Daniel Albert Neja, 39, after it found evidence that someone had been staying in a suite, police tell the Tampa Bay Times. Neja was jailed last week in the Pinellas County Jail on charges of burglary and resisting an officer without violence.
“It was clear that someone had been living there,” police spokesperson Yolanda Fernandez tells Fox 13. “There were blankets and personal items like shaving cream like someone had been using.”
The stadium is the home to the Tampa Bay Rowdies soccer team. Police say Neja broke into the merchandise areas and took more than $1,000 in clothing, ABC Action News reports. He also broke into the food-storage areas and consumed more than $250 in drinks, police say.
According to police, it’s unclear how Neja got into the stadium but he may have been living there from July 26 to Aug. 10.
“There were workers, employees coming in and out of the facility. It’s possible, he might have just blended in. It’s hard to tell right now,” Fernandez said.
