A man who spent three hours licking a doorbell as a family slept inside their home has been charged with prowling and theft.

Roberto Daniel Arroyo, 33, was pictured taking part in the bizarre act on the home CCTV in Salinas, California, on Saturday morning.

The clear footage shows the man leaning his head against the intercom outside their front door and licking the doorbell from several different angles.

He carried on licking for three hours.

The family have been named as Sylvia Dungan and her husband and children. Mrs Dungan and husband were not at home at the time, however their children were sleeping inside. They did not wake up.


They had installed the doorstep camera a month before and were alerted to movement at about 5am, when they reviewed the footage to find the disturbing images.

Image: The 33-year-old changed angles several times as he licked the doorbell. Pic: ring.com/Sylvia Dungan

"I thought, boy there's a lot of traffic," Sylvia Dungan told KION 5/46 News.

"I go, '5am in the morning?' My son doesn't get home till 6am, well then who the heck is that?"

They alerted police, who said the footage was so clear they quickly identified the man as Arroyo.

They added that he appeared to "relieve himself" in the Dungans' garden and entered several other neighbours' yards.

Neighbour Alfred Santos told KION 5/46 News: "I thought I've seen it all, but this takes the cake."

Mrs Dungan added: "You kind of laugh about it afterwards because technically he didn't do anything."

As well as prowling and theft, Arroyo has been charged with breaching his probation for a previous crime.