Man caught licking doorbell for hours, relieving himself in Salinas front yard

A Salinas man was caught on surveillance camera doing some downright strange stuff at a Salinas home Friday.

High-tech doorbells, like Ring or Nest, notify homeowners when there's activity at the door, like a package being delivered — or stolen. In this case, the activity caught on camera was much more disturbing.

A man, identified by police as 32-year-old Roberto Daniel Arroyo, could be seen lurking outside the home, licking the doorbell, and relieving himself in the front yard — an ordeal that went on for hours early Friday morning, according to KION. He's also accused of stealing a couple extension cords that were used for Christmas lights decorating the home.

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The homeowners, Sylvia and Dave Dungan, told KION they were out of town when the incident happened, but their children were inside the home at the time.

The video has gotten this case a lot of attention and sets it apart from the average night prowler.

"He's obviously being pretty perverted and weird about it," Salinas Police Commander Matt Maldonado told SFGATE.

A screenshot from the surveillance video shows the man licking the doorbell at a Salinas home. Police say he also relieved himself in front of the home and stole two extension cords. A screenshot from the surveillance video shows the man licking the doorbell at a Salinas home. Police say he also relieved himself in front of the home and stole two extension cords. Photo: Screenshot / Sylvia And Dave Dungan Photo: Screenshot / Sylvia And Dave Dungan Image 1 of / 25 Caption Close Man caught licking doorbell for hours, relieving himself in Salinas front yard 1 / 25 Back to Gallery

"This just kind of reinforces how important it is to have security within your home," Sylvia Dungan said in an interview with KION. "You kind of laugh about it afterwards because technically he didn't do anything."

The police department is looking for Arroyo. If arrested, he would be charged with prowling, petty theft of the extension cords, and violating probation.

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Since the man didn't cause much damage or steal anything other than the extension cords, there's not much for the homeowners to do except for cleaning the doorbell — thoroughly.

Read Alix Martichoux's latest stories and send her news tips at amartichoux@sfchronicle.com.

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