Fugitive found hiding inside man's closet

MERRITT ISLAND, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Imagine waking up to find a stranger in your home. It happened to a Merritt Island man who had a fugitive hiding in his closet.

Herman Jackson says his small closet is where fugitive Alex Koretsky was hiding-out. It seems that while Koretsky was in the closet, he may have been trying-on some clothes. Jackson said when he came in afterward, clothes were all over the floor.

Jackson, an 87-year old veteran, was just taking a nap on the couch and had no idea the convicted criminal was creeping around his house.

“Everything was torn-up,” Jackson said, “and a lot of it on the floor, like he was trying to find something to change into, I don't know.”

It wasn't until he heard someone fiddling with his sliding doors that Jackson woke up and realized he wasn't alone anymore.

“I looked up and there he was standing in my living room!” Jackson said.

The bumbling burglar tried to explain himself, telling the homeowner he was only looking for water. Koretsky grabbed a bottle and took off. Jackson called the cops.

“Naturally, I called and told them about it,” Jackson said.

It didn't take long for deputies to track Koretsky down. It turned out he and his girlfriend, Shelby Adams, were running from the law in a stolen car. They both have rap sheets a mile long. As for Jackson, he's a little annoyed at himself for leaving the doors unlocked.

“I was always forgetting the key,” Jackson explained, “I'd have to come around and I'd have to come around back and get in.”

Jackson said from now on he's definitely locking all his doors.