Homeless Italian man sentenced to house arrest on the sidewalk

Italian police sentenced a serial offender to house arrest in Milan, but there's just one problem — he doesn't have a home.

Domenico Codispoti was instead ordered to serve out his sentence on a particular spot of sidewalk on the Via Vittor Pisani, in front of the city’s Stazione Centrale.

Police will arrive at the spot at sundown each evening to make sure Codispoti is settled in and he is supposed to remain there until 7 a.m. the next morning, reports the Independent.

Codispoti has an arrest record ranging from petty theft to drug dealing.

"I have always done my stealing at night," he told the Independent.

"That’s why the court gave me this sentence. Since I don’t have a house, there was no other solution. During the night I can’t move."

This isn't his first experience with house arrest. Codispoti was first put on 'sidewalk arrest' in 2006 but was caught by officers wandering too far from the station.

"Once I went off to urinate," he told Italy's La Stampa newspaper, "but a police patrol arrived and stopped me."

Codispoti reportedly asked police to sentence him to jail time instead.

"At least there is a bed, a hot meal, and water to wash. But I’m not allowed," he said.

He is expected to remain on the sidewalk at night until April 2014.