A Turlock man tried to avoid arrest by running from officers and then taking refuge in a stranger’s attic.

The attempt was for naught, as Jose Hernandez Cortez, 26, was taken into custody a little more than an hour after he stowed away in the attic.

Around 9 a.m. Sunday the Turlock Police Department received a report of a suspicious man who was jumping over fences in the 500 block of Vermont Avenue. As the officers approached the area, Cortez took off and ran into a home.

The residents of the home came out of the house and said they didn’t know the man, but that he had run up into the attic.

The Turlock Police officers used a specialized camera that showed them Cortez’s location through infrared. They were then able to climb up on an outside ladder and gain access into the attic and take Cortez into custody.

Cortez was arrested on suspicion of possession of methamphetamine, trespassing and resisting arrest.