Burglar Arrested After Sleeping in Car

OSLO, Norway (AP) - The basic requirement of the stealthy night-time burglar is the ability to stay awake. A suspected Norwegian burglar failed the test and ended up in jail.

The alleged burglar - unsurprisingly with a long list of criminal convictions - was discovered early Thursday at the wheel of someone else's car following a hard night spent, according to police suspicions, robbing houses.

He was identified only as a 42-year-old man.

He is believed to have tried to steal a car to drive home with his ill-gotten gains but a passer-by called police reporting someone slumped behind the wheel, said Harald Aase, operations leader for western Norway's Haugeland and Sunnhordland Police District.

Aase said police turned up to check on the car and its slumbering driver in the town of Haugesund and found a sleepy but familiar figure in the front seat. Police have declined to name him.

"We have a man in custody who fell asleep in someone else's company car," Aase said by telephone, adding that the back seat was full of suspected stolen goods.

Aase said the lesson was clear. "You mustn't fall asleep on the job."