A 41-year-old man who spent nearly three months secretly living in the crawlspace under a family’s Happy Valley townhouse has been sentenced to three years in prison.
Beniamin Bucur was convicted of first-degree burglary in the jury trial. He had previously pleaded guilty to methamphetamine possession, the Clackamas County District Attorney’s Office said.
A married couple and their young daughter lived in the townhouse above the crawlspace.
“For two and a half months, Beniamin Bucur was the roommate the family never knew they had,” Deputy District Attorney Tiffany Escover said in a statement.
Bucur set up “an elaborate, well-lit living space and a network of power cords that connected to the resident’s electrical service,” according to the DA’s office. He surreptitiously brought in televisions, cooking burners, gaming consoles, weapons and numerous lights, “racking up the electricity usage while the family unknowingly footed the bill.”
Officers also found a pipe with methamphetamine residue in the crawlspace, police said.
Bucur was finally caught last September after a neighbor spotted him entering the crawlspace from outside and called police.
Bucur also has an open burglary case in Washington County after being arrested while awaiting trial for stealing into the Happy Valley home’s crawlspace. He has numerous convictions in Oregon dating back to 2003, according to court records. They include charges of theft, burglary, drug possession, harassment and assault.
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