He Was About to Be Charged With Burglary When He Told Cops the Real Reason He Was Opening Car Doors at an Auto Body Shop (UPDATED)

After a man was seen going into multiple cars at their Connecticut business, employees at Cotaling's Auto Body did what you might expect — they chased down the 20-year-old and detained him until Norwalk police arrived.

Cotaling's Auto Body (Image source: Cotaling's website)

Witnesses gave statements to cops regarding what they believed was a burglary attempt stopped cold Friday afternoon. Security footage of the incident also was given to police, the Hour reported. But there was a little catch.

Police said they took Alexander Louis of 16 Magnolia Ave. into custody but found no stolen items on him.

More from the Hour:

Louis was about to be charged with burglary when he told police what he was really doing at the auto yard, police said. Louis told officers he was simply making sure all the vehicles were locked and when he found an unlocked door, he locked it, police said.

Police reviewed the security footage and saw that Louis did not enter any of the cars or rifle through any of the belongings in the car. The footage showed that once he opened the door of an unlocked car, he would lock it and move to the next car, according to police.

But Cotaling's Auto Body displays "no trespassing" signs, so Louis was still charged with criminal trespass, police told the Hour. His initial $20,000 bond was lowered to a promise to appear in court, police added.

Cotaling's Auto Body on Monday declined TheBlaze's request for comment on the incident.

Louis Was Arrested for Burglary in October

An October story in the Hour described the arrest of an Alexander Louis — 20 years old with the same Norwalk address — for entering a stranger’s home without invite in an attempt to perform a sex act. Norwalk Police Lieutenant Paul Resnick on Monday confirmed to TheBlaze that he's the same person involved in Friday's auto body shop incident.

Louis was charged with second-degree burglary, criminal attempt to commit fourth-degree sexual assault and interfering with an officer in connection with the Oct. 9 incident, the Hour reported.

Louis reportedly entered a house and fled after spotting the occupants, the Hour reported. Then a resident on another street flagged down responding police saying a male tried to enter her house and was nearby. But after the officer caught up with Louis and tried to handcuff him, he slipped from the officer's grasp and ran off. He was eventually apprehended in a wooded area, police told the Hour.

At Louis' arraignment in Norwalk Superior Court, Judge William Holden increased his bond from $27,500 to $37,500 and ordered him to undergo a mental health evaluation, the paper added.

Resnick told TheBlaze that Louis was released from Connecticut state jail on Dec. 22. Then on Christmas Day — the day before the auto body shop incident — Louis was arrested for interfering with an officer, Resnick said.

A witness saw a man matching Louis' description opening car doors at a gas station just a half mile down the road from Cotaling's Auto Body, Resnick said. After police found Louis a short distance away, the witness said Louis wasn't the man she saw, Resnick said. However Louis had become combative and was violently resisting police, so he was charged with interfering with an officer, Resnick said.

Resnick added that Louis is scheduled to appear in Norwalk Superior Court twice over the next two weeks: on Jan. 2, 2015, in connection with his Christmas Day arrest, and on Jan. 6, 2015, in connection with the auto body shop incident.

Louis also was arrested in May for interfering with officer and failure to appear, Resnick told TheBlaze.

This story has been updated.