The Odd Encounter David Lee Roth Had With An Intruder
David Lee Roth is a major name in rock and roll, and the fortune he's amassed has given him the opportunity to own some pretty sizeable real estate. But in 2003, an intruder managed to make his way onto Roth's property by climbing a 15-foot wall (via SFGATE), breaking foliage in the process. "I hear the branches breaking and what sounds like a sack of bowling balls falling in the daffodils," he told the SFGATE, recalling the incident.
At first, he thought it was a bunch of high school students sneaking in "because they want to swim at Roth's house while he's on tour or whatever." But what he eventually found was a man "babbling in three versions of Martian" after confronting the intruder from a window. After running away and yelling, Roth managed to get the intruder to stay until the police showed up by aiming a shotgun at them (via Blabbermouth).
David Lee Roth's intruder had a very strange request
"Just like on television, I made him put his hands up behind his head and lie down in the sprinkler system," Roth explained (via SFGATE). The former Van Halen frontman proceeded to call the police, and then the intruder randomly asked Roth for a soda. Despite being face to face with the guy, who also happened to be in possession of a knife and a bag of methamphetamines (via Ultimate Classic Rock), the rock star managed to keep the intruder at bay until the authorities showed up.
It wouldn't be until the next day that Roth realized that said intruder was actually his next door neighbor, Charles Cooley. Cooley was heard breaking the windows of his own house when neighbors called the police, and the next thing anyone knew was that he was on Roth's property. When the police arrived, they eventually realized where the commotion was coming from and found the Van Halen singer overlooking Cooley from a second-floor balcony.
Roth would later say that "Anyone found bearing arms here at night ... will be found here in the morning." Freaky stuff.