SOUTH SALT LAKE -- Police have arrested a man who was allegedly involved in a theft of underwear from an apartment Tuesday night.

The 40-year-old man, who told police he has been living in a park, was arrested and booked into Salt Lake County Jail Wednesday morning on suspicion of burglary and for not registering in Utah as a known sex offender. He is a registered sex offender in Arizona and came to Utah sometime in August, South Salt Lake information officer Darin Sweeten said.By law, any registered sex offender from another state has to reregister when he comes to Utah. The penalty for not registering is 90 days in jail, Sweeten said.

The man was arrested about 7:30 p.m. after a resident of an apartment at 3678 S. Main discovered that someone had forced entry into his apartment. He called police after seeing a stranger leaving a neighbor's apartment.

"He knows his neighbor and knew that the man leaving the apartment was not him," Sweeten said.

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A short time later police arrested the suspect three blocks from the apartment complex.

In September, officers investigated a burglary at the same apartment complex where, again, only women's panties were stolen. The man told police he was not involved in that crime, but police consider him a suspect because the cases are so similar in nature and location, Sweeten said.

"It's definitely odd," Sweeten said. "It's not a common thing to be stolen."

The man told police he is a transient and has been living in a park near 3700 South between Main Street and West Temple since he moved from Arizona.

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