Man Allegedly Broke into Apartment Believing It Was His Own

Police say a Penn State student was intoxicated when he allegedly broke into someone else’s apartment, insisted it was his own and took off his clothes.

According to a criminal complaint, the resident of the West Fairmount Street apartment called State College Police at about 12:30 a.m. on Sunday to report that a man had been banging on his door and trying to enter. When an officer arrived, the apartment door reportedly was open and showed signs of forced entry, but no one was inside.

Another officer arrived outside and found the resident and a witness chasing after Jonathan Cisney, 21, who police said was visibly intoxicated.

The witness reportedly told police that he heard banging and saw Cisney trying to enter the apartment. He told Cisney to stop and that he was at the wrong apartment, but that Cisney insisted the apartment was his own, according to the complaint. Police say that as the witness was walking away he heard a loud noise and turned around to see the apartment door had been broken and was open.

The resident of the apartment allegedly said that Cisney had been banging on the door for up to 30 minutes and that he told Cisney multiple times that he was at the wrong apartment. Police say that after Cisney broke in the front door, he then broke down the bedroom door and demanded that the resident leave, insisting the apartment was his. 

Cisney allegedly then began to take off his clothes.

At some point, police say, Cisney realized he was in the wrong apartment and ran off. The witness and resident said they chased after him because they did not want him to cause further problems and knew police were on the way, according to the complaint.

Cisney was charged with felony criminal trespass – breaking into a structure and summary counts of criminal mischief and public drunkenness. 

He was arraigned before District Judge Carmine Prestia, with unsecured bail set at $75,000. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.