A North Carolina landscaper was arrested after inviting hundreds of people to a party while the homeowners were on vacation, police said.
Michael Brown is accused of inviting as many as 400 people to the house party in the Charlotte suburb of Weddington last Saturday night.
“He represented himself as the homeowner and said he was having a party,” Lieutenant James Maye of the Union County Sheriff’s Office told WSOC. “He was, in fact, not the homeowner, not related to the homeowner, but in fact was the yard guy.”
Maye added that “a lot of underage drinking” was going on at the party, which was shut down by the police after neighbors complained.
Brown was arrested and charged with breaking and entering, second-degree trespassing, and obtaining property by false pretenses, among other charges.
Police said that Brown “charged each person attending the party an entry fee that he then pocketed” in a statement shared on Facebook.
“After several additional epic failures at telling the truth, he finally admitted he was the lawn guy and had no relation to the homeowners whatsoever,” the statement added.
Brown was taken to the Union County Detention Center, where he was “specifically told he was a guest at our Detention Center, not a resident, and ordered not to throw any parties in our phone cell while trying to secure a bonding company,” police jested in the statement.
The landscaper posted a $10,000 secured bond and is no longer in police custody.
He told WSOC that he disputed the version of events shared by the sheriff’s office.
Brown also told the news outlet that he was even planning to host another party and that he doesn’t believe he has lost the client, who was still on vacation when the outlet interviewed the landscaper.
“I’m just waiting for them to come home, just so I can continue to build my relationship and we can move forward,” Brown said.
