KARNS CITY — A Fairview Township man was arrested New Year’s Day after he allegedly made himself at home — in someone else’s home, that is.

The suspected house crasher, 28-year-old Joshua A. Frey, cranked up the furnace, warmed up a slice of pizza and used the toilet at the home on Main Street in Karns City, state police said.

Frey later admitted breaking into the unoccupied home on New Year’s Eve because he was drunk and knew he couldn’t go home in his intoxicated condition, state police said.

He also acknowledged that he needed a “warm place to stay,” according to court documents.

District Judge Sue Haggerty on Friday arraigned Frey on felony charges of trespass and misdemeanor charges of criminal mischief and loitering and prowling at night. Additionally, he is charged with a summary count of disorderly conduct.

Following arraignment, he was placed in the Butler County Prison on $5,000 bail.

The victim contacted police Friday after returning to her house and discovering the crime. Police suspect Frey got inside the home after prying open a sliding-glass door.

It didn’t take long for the homeowner victim to know that an intruder had been there. The furnace was turned up to 90 degrees, the upstairs toilet had been used and left unflushed, and her new kitchen stove was no longer spanking clean.

And it didn’t take long for Trooper Cody Spangle to come up with a suspect. Frey had dropped his debit card on the kitchen floor.

Police the next morning found him at his home. It apparently didn’t take long for his confession.

He said he was looking to get out of the cold about 10 p.m. Thursday when he picked the victim’s house. But he insisted that he got inside through an unlocked basement door, not the sliding glass door that police believe he used.

Frey recounted that he turned up the thermostat to 90 and used the stove to warm up a slice of pizza that he had brought with him.