KEARNS — After living in a hotel for a week because of a fire, a Kearns family returned to check on their burned home Saturday morning and found someone else living in it, police said.
The unwanted houseguest then allegedly chased at least one of the family members around the house with a machete, said detective Ken Hansen with the Unified Police Department.
The family called 911 and officers arrived to the S. Twilight Circle home several minutes later, taking the suspect into custody, Hansen said. No one was injured.
The man was later identified as 25-year-old Scott L. Thomson. He was interviewed and booked into Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of aggravated burglary and robbery, Hansen said.
"I suspect that, since it was a burnt home, he didn’t suspect that anyone was going to be coming back, and so he decided he would live there," Hansen said.
Police recovered a stolen car that was parked in the driveway, believed to have been stolen by the suspect, and are investigating where and when the car was stolen, Hansen said. They are also looking to see if additional damage was done to the house, he said.
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