PORTLAND, Ore. -- Police Thursday admitted they arrested the wrong man in the case of a burglar who broke into Northeast Portland apartments and startled one victim awake by licking her back.

The man who was arrested, Ismond Hale, has been cleared of all charges, according to Portland Police Sgt. Brian Schmautz.

Hale passed a lie detector test and all charges were dropped because the degree of evidence did not support the charges, said Norm Frink with the Multnomah County prosecutor’s office

Background: Back-licking burglar suspect pleads not guilty

Hale had maintained his innocence all along.

"I was like man, that's crazy, they got the wrong guy," Hale told KGW during an interview Thursday.

He told KGW how police questioned him after the burglary.

"The next question he asked me was can I come outside to see if the lady - the victim - can identify you. I said, 'I've got no problem with that.' I was out there for probably five seconds and the next thing I know I'm in handcuffs, and I'm telling them they have the wrong guy," Hale said.

He added that when he was in jail, other inmates threatened him.

"When they showed it on the news everybody in there, all the inmates, saw it and I started getting threats. They thought I was nuts."

Hale also said he lost his job because of the arrest.

In court last month, Hale claimed police had the wrong man and pleaded not guilty to charges of burglary, theft, criminal trespass and sexual abuse.

The burglaries occurred on June 9.

The woman whose back was licked also had cash stolen from her apartment and her underwear had been sliced in two, police said. The burglar fled on foot after she awoke.

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