EVANSVILLE, Ind. — An Evansville couple woke Tuesday to find a naked man sitting on their back patio.

Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office arrived at the North Side home shortly before 5 a.m. Tuesday and found 42-year-old Christopher Ricketts by the side of the road, wearing only a towel.

One of the residents told deputies she woke up in the middle of the night when she heard their dogs barking. She saw their front door was open, even though the door was rarely used and always locked. The homeowners walked around the house but did not find anyone inside, and went back to bed.

The woman heard the dogs barking again about 4:45 a.m. and went outside to check on them. Ricketts was sitting in a chair on the back patio.

Ricketts allegedly told the couple he was swimming in a nearby lake, looking for his girlfriend. The homeowners said he admitted to walking into their house as well.

When deputies interviewed Ricketts later, he reportedly told them he was walking around and looking for his girlfriend Monday night when he heard “voices” that led him to Laubscher Road and into the lake.

“Ricketts said he swam for several hours and then went and sat on the patio chairs,” deputies wrote in a probable cause affidavit.

He allegedly opened the doggie door into the house several times, saying he heard the dogs barking and saw them walking in and out of the door. Ricketts told deputies he did not go into the house, although he allegedly told the residents he had gone inside.

After talking to the homeowners, Ricketts walked away to the side of the road, where the deputies met him. The couple left the house to drive down the street.

Ricketts was booked into the Vanderburgh County Jail shortly after 7:30 a.m. Tuesday. Police reports show the Sheriff’s Office is investigating the case as a residential entry.

He had not been formally charged in the case as of Wednesday. Ricketts is being held in the Vanderburgh County Jail on preliminary charges of residential entry, trespass and indecent exposure.

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