Neighbors alerted police after they heard him forcing open the front door of the funeral parlor, the Associated Press reports.

But rather than surrender, the 23-year-old baddie decided to play possum.

He climbed up into a glass case used to display the dearly departed during wakes and got his croak on.

The only problem was, he was breathing. That, and he wasn't exactly dressed for eternal rest.

"The custom here is for dead people to be dressed in suits, in nice clothes that look presentable. This guy was in everyday clothes that were wrinkled and dirty," a cop at the scene said. "He was trying to fake being dead, but he was breathing."

Police said the guy had served time before for robbery.