Man drove drunk in car stolen from Melville house, police say

A Deer Park man entered a house in Melville and after the homeowner confronted him, stole the homeowner's car keys and drove off in the car while drunk Wednesday night, police said.

Jemel Edwards, 32, "unlawfully entered" the Jacobs Path house about 10 p.m., Suffolk County police said in a news release Thursday. 

About 10 minutes later, a patrol officer spotted Edwards in the stolen 2014 Toyota Camry, stopped on the same road about a quarter-mile away, police said.

"It was a scary thing, the thought that somebody was actually in my house," homeowner Fernando Jimenez told News 12 Long Island. "Then it got even scarier because my wife found a pair of shoes in the laundry room that obviously belonged to him. That led us to believe that he might have been here when we got home."

Edwards is charged with second-degree burglary, third-degree grand larceny and driving while intoxicated second offense, a felony, police said.

Edwards was arraigned Thursday, according to online court records. A temporary order of protection was issued, and bail was set at $15,000 cash or bond, the records state.

Edwards is represented by the Legal Aid Society of Suffolk County. No one from that office could be reached Thursday.