Boca Raton man hides, falls asleep in home of Greenacres woman after hit-and-run crash

GREENACRES, Fla. — After fleeing the scene of a car crash Sunday morning, a 41-year-old man took to hiding in a woman's home and fell asleep while sitting in a chair in her living room.

Jeffrey Pinder, of Boca Raton, was arrested on a charge of armed burglary after Greenacres Department of Public Safety officers found him sitting in the chair with a knife in his pocket.

This morning, a judge ordered him held in lieu of $50,000 bail, jail records show.

According to a Greenacres Public Safety probable cause affidavit, Pinder was involved in a hit-and-run crash in the area of Lake Worth Road and Sherwood Forest Boulevard around 10 :15 a.m. Sunday.

Pinder, who was described as a male wearing a black shirt and khaki shorts, jumped out of the car and hid behind a nearby Walgreens store.

Palm Beach County Sheriff's K-9 crews were called in to help search for Pinder.

Meanwhile, 68-year-old Gilma Messier called dispatch and told them that a man was sleeping in a chair in her living room, the affidavit says.

Officers went to Messier's home on Elsinore Circle and, along with sheriff's deputies, surrounded it.

They eventually went in a removed Pinder without incident.

According to the affidavit, Messier later told authorities that she was taking the trash out and thought she saw a "shadow" behind her.

When she came back into her home she saw Pinder standing in her living room.

When she told him to leave, he said he was going to sit down.

When she asked him to leave a second time, he ignored here, sat down in the living room and fell asleep, the affidavit says.