Maybe he just got tired of cops-and-crooks and decided to play house instead.

The Shorewood police say officers searching for a car thief found him hiding inside a child's toy house in a back yard on Cambridge Lane.

The alleged car crook, 21-year-old Robert Blessen of 406 Garden Terrace in Shorewood, was jailed Thursday morning on charges of burglary, possessing a stolen motor vehicle, resisting or obstructing a peace officer, and theft.

Police started the hunt for Blessen when they were called about 4 a.m. to investigate a car stolen off Turtle Street. Mere minutes later, another call came in about a suspicious person walking around a car parked on the southwest end of town.

While searching that area, police said, officers spotted a man walking down the street carrying two sets of tools.

Officers ordered the man to stop, police said, but he dropped the tools and took off running. A short time later, Blessen was found hiding in a child's playhouse and taken into custody.

Officers found property taken out of the car Stolen off Turtle Street, including a lanyard and some small flashlights, stuffed in Blessen's pockets, said Shorewood police Cmdr. Eric Allen. A camera from inside the car was located on the ground nearby where Blessen was apprehended, he said.

"Anything that wasn't tied down, he grabbed," Allen said.