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Deputies: Escaped suspect found in Deltona house wearing homeowner's PJs, taking nap

DELTONA, Fla. — An escaped suspect was arrested after she was found inside a stranger's Deltona home, wearing flannel pajamas belonging to the 72-year-old homeowner's husband, Volusia County deputies said.

Deputies said the intruder, Eryn Rice, 22, broke free from authorities Sunday morning and broke into the woman's home, where she washed her clothes, took a shower, put on pajamas and took a nap inside the guest bedroom.

Rice had been arrested earlier on charges of retail theft, resisting an officer with violence, battery on a law enforcement officer, giving a false name and escape. After she was captured a second time, burglary and petty theft were added to her list of charges.

Authorities said Rice was seen shoplifting several hundred dollars' worth of cosmetics from a CVS pharmacy on Howland Boulevard. Officials said that before Rice left the store, her accomplice John Willey realized that deputies had spotted him in his car, and he drove off.

Meanwhile, a deputy nabbed Rice as she left the CVS store and took her into custody, investigators said.

As the deputy got one handcuff on Rice's left wrist, authorities said she became combative, spun around, shoved the deputy to the ground and ran away.

The deputy managed to give chase, but Rice got away and eluded capture during a search that also included K-9 units and a helicopter, officials said.

Deputies said they were flagged down shortly before 11:30 a.m. Sunday by a couple who asked if they were looking for a woman. The couple said that after the husband left to play golf that morning, the wife found a strange woman in the house who wearing her husband’s clothes. The wife said she called her husband and demanded an explanation. When he came home, the husband insisted that he wasn’t having an affair with the intruder and had never seen her before.

The couple said they agreed to drive Rice less than a mile away to a home on Fountain Road. They found Rice's sock and undergarments in their washing machine later.

Deputies said that when they went to the home on Fountain Road, they spotted Willey driving off and trying to conceal Rice, who was hiding on the floorboard of the vehicle.

Both were taken into custody.

In addition to the other charges, Rice also was arrested on a warrant out of Osceola County for a probation violation associated with a grand theft charge.

Willey was charged with being an accessory after the fact to robbery and harboring an escaped prisoner.

Deputies said they found the discarded handcuffs at DuPont Lakes Park. They also found two syringes on Rice and another in the car that contained methamphetamine residue, authorities said.