SAN FRANCISCO—San Francisco resident Santino Aviles, 41, has been acquitted of robbery and other felony charges following a defense that argued he was in a meth-induced psychosis at the time of his alleged crimes.
Per Aviles’ defense, he was in a deluded state of mind when he broke into a Mission District apartment he believed to be a spaceship. Gaining access to the building through the roof, Aviles climbed through the window of the apartment seeking refuge from the imminent destruction of planet earth.
![Spaceship](http://www.thesfnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/image52-225x145.jpg)
Aviles then napped on the residents’ couch and remained in a state of psychosis when he awoke. Delusional, he grabbed an exercise ball and hurled it down the building’s fire escape, believing the exercise equipment to be a vessel he would use to float about the galaxy.
When the residents of the apartment discovered Aviles inside their home, a scuffle broke-out in which the male resident came after the intruder with a baseball bat. The man sustained a toe injury in the confrontation and Aviles sustained a black eye and other bruising.
The man then dialed 911, prompting a response from officers that arrested Aviles at the scene.
Supporting his claim of psychosis was a videotaped police interrogation in which Aviles repeatedly mutters about spacecraft and the impending explosion of earth. Due to the circumstances, the 41-year-old has only been convicted of misdemeanor battery and assault.