'It's like a Hangover movie': Hong Kong businessman charged for drunk, naked break-in at US home
Businessman sought by US police over alleged drunk, naked escapade after party
PUBLISHED : Saturday, 31 January, 2015, 12:17pm
UPDATED : Sunday, 01 February, 2015, 2:13am
Alice Woodhouse and Associated Press
A US judge overseeing the case of the Hong Kong wedding guest compared the situation to the "Hangover" movie franchise, which depicts American best friends who take drunken debauchery to new levels. Photo: AP
A fugitive Hong Kong businessman is being sought by United States police after he failed to turn up in court last week to face charges over an allegedly drunken wedding party escapade a judge likened to the movie series The Hangover.
Businessman Guneet Banga was arrested after he was found asleep naked in the bedroom of a house that was not his in a town near Flathead Lake in Montana on September 6 last year. He was ordered to appear in court last Wednesday but did not show up.
Sheriff's deputies were called out on a report of a naked intruder to find the kitchen "in a shambles", a stinking frying pan on the stove and urine-soaked formal wear in the living room. Banga, whose age was not given by police, then tried to apply for diplomatic immunity.
District judge James Manley described the case as reminiscent of The Hangover - in which four friends try to piece together the drunken escapades of the night before. Manley said he would sign a US$25,000 warrant which prosecutors said would ensure the man's return or cover repairs.
A man in Hong Kong with the same name did not respond to telephone messages from the Sunday Morning Post seeking comment yesterday.
Charges of misdemeanor criminal trespass and felony criminal mischief were filed on January 23.
"Unfortunately, in his quest for a place to sleep, the defendant broke into the wrong house, and caused excessive damage in excess of US$1,500," the affidavit stated, according to local newspaper The Missoulian.
After locating the intruder, sheriff's deputies allegedly ordered a confused Banga out of bed at gunpoint.
Banga had been attending a wedding at a nearby house on the night and had mistakenly broken into the house, according to The Missoulian.
The affidavit claimed Banga had damaged water lines to a pump in the house, creating a high-pressure geyser which flooded the pump room, the paper said.
Police in Hong Kong declined to say if they had been contacted by Montana authorities to help find Banga, adding that they do not comment on specific cases.
