Seven Fields Man Helps Himself to Milk, Cookies After Sleeping in Wrong House

A Seven Fields man charged with giving an unwelcome surprise to an elderly Cranberry Township woman just before Christmas is heading to the Butler County Court of Common Pleas.

Christopher Dahlstrom, 20, of Bristol Drive, is set to be formally arraigned March 19 after waiving a preliminary hearing before District Judge David Kovach in Cranberry last week.

According to the criminal complaint filed by Cranberry police, an 86-year-old woman was getting ready for church early Dec. 23 when Dahlstrom, a stranger to her, opened the door of her first-floor bedroom.

After the woman began screaming, her daughter and son-in-law, who own the Toftree Drive home, rushed to the bedroom to find out what was wrong, the complaint said.

The homeowner, who dialed 911 while confronting Dahlstrom, told police Dahlstrom began to argue with him that he actually was in the house next door to the homeowner.

The homeowner added he did not know Dahlstrom, who police said appeared intoxicated, and that Dahlstrom did not have permission to be in the home, the complaint said.

The complaint said Dahlstrom later told police he had spent the night in the house—and appeared to have made himself comfortable there.

The homeowner told police he found cookies and a glass with a small amount of milk left in it on the kitchen counter the morning of Dec. 23. The milk and cookies were not there the night before, the complaint said.

When police checked the outside of the home, they observed a set of shoeprints in the snow leading from a wine bottle and beer bottle in front of the home’s garage to a rear basement patio door. Dahlstrom's jacket also was found on the couch in the family room, the complaint said.

Police said it did not appear any forced entry was made into the home. The homeowner said the patio door might have been unlocked, the complaint said.

Dahlstrom, who police said smell strongly of alcohol, was placed in handcuffs without incident once officers arrived at the home. Cranberry EMS also was called the home because the elderly woman believed she was having a heart attack, the complaint said.

When checking Dahlstrom’s pockets, police found six amphetamine capsules, the complaint said. 

Dahlstrom is charged with defiant trespass, possession of a controlled substance, possessing a small amount of marijuana and public drunkenness in the incident. A burglary charge was withdrawn.

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