A man who evaded police for several hours Wednesday morning may have been trying to avoid custody, but was also apparently trying to avoid wearing clothes.

The strange set of circumstances began around 4:45 a.m. when police responded to a break-in at a Shoppers Drug Mart on Strasburg Road near Block Line Road.

Police found that the front window of the store had been smashed.

An officer reportedly saw somebody jumping a fence across the street from the store, at which point several officers began a search of the area.

The suspect was not immediately found, but officers did discover a number of items believed stolen from the drug store.

The search continued in the Hillside Drive area, with officers searching backyards, a wooded area and an apartment building.

A couple hours later, officers investigating the case spotted a man jumping from a white vehicle several blocks away, near Strasburg and Ottawa Street.

The man was allegedly naked as he bolted the vehicle and ran toward the Conestoga Parkway.

Police fielded numerous calls from morning commuters who spotted a naked man running across the highway.

After crossing the highway, the man ran smack-dab into Chris Campbell, who was walking up the stairs to his apartment.

“As I came through the door I walked up about three or four stairs and bang, he was sitting right there,” Campbell tells CTV.

“He goes ‘Excuse me, do you live here? It’s been a bad morning … could I get some clothes?”

At the time, the man was wearing boxer shorts and a women’s T-shirt that Campbell recognized from his last trip to the apartment’s laundry room.

Campbell notified police, who had earlier warned him that the man may be nearby. Officers focused on a city park near Greenbrook Drive and Stirling Avenue, finally finding the man in a backyard on Greenbrook around 10:30 a.m.

At that point, he was wearing a T-shirt and slacks, and was placed under arrest.

Homeowner Islwyn Matthews says he was enjoying his morning coffee when police pounded on his door, asking for access to his yard.

“He had tried to go through our garden and get into the creek at the back of our house,” Matthews explains.

“To do that he had to climb over our Adirondack chairs and climb over the fence. He damaged both of the chairs in his attempt and pulled the top of the fence down, but by that time the police had caught up with him.”

The man, who is known to police, faces several charges.