Three women hid in the bedroom of a Cayucos home early Tuesday morning while a transient allegedly broke into the residence and began ransacking it.

Sheriff’s dispatchers received a call from the 2200 block of Cass Avenue in Cayucos at 2:50 a.m. from a woman who said a man was pounding on the front door and saying he had a gun. The caller and two other women hid in a bedroom, the Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

While the victim was still on the phone, the man forced his way into the home and began destroying property. Deputies arrived and found Richard Lugo, 43, a transient, in the front yard and arrested him.

He was booked into San Luis Obispo County Jail on suspicion of burglary and felony vandalism.