Intruder showered in woman’s apartment, police say

A parolee sneaked into a Costa Mesa woman’s apartment last week so he could take a shower to help him come down from a drug-induced high, police said.

The woman was at the pool area of her apartment complex around 7:30 p.m. Friday when she saw a stranger open her unit’s unlocked door and walk inside.

The man then apparently locked the door and further tried to block anyone from coming in after him, according to a news release from the Costa Mesa Police Department.

When police responded to the building at 2881 Bear St., the woman unlocked the door and officers were able to get inside, where they heard noise coming from the bathroom.

After forcing their way through the bathroom’s locked door, police say they found Sean Dunne, a 33-year-old parolee from Huntington Beach, taking a shower.

Dunne acted like he was high and told officers he was coming down from recent drug use, police said.

Officers arrested him on suspicion of residential burglary, being under the influence of a controlled substance and a parole violation.

“Dunne had no apparent prior knowledge of either the female or other residents of the apartment he had unlawfully entered,” Costa Mesa police spokesman Lt. Greg Scott said.

Nobody else was inside the apartment when he got there, police said.

Dunne, who is unemployed, is being held in Orange County Jail without bail, according to jail records.