Cops: Hunger blamed for break-in attempt
By Sarah Lison, Jackson Hole, Wyo.
February 13, 2010
A Victor, Idaho, man was charged Wednesday with shattering a double-paned window during a break-in attempt early Monday at Taco Bell.
Jed A. Mitchell, 27, told an arresting officer he was trying to get into the restaurant because he was hungry and said Taco Bell was supposed to be open from “9 until midnight,” according to court records.
Mitchell was arrested about 12:45 a.m. after a passer-by called police and said heavy-set man in a dark jacket threw a crow bar at his window.
When Jackson police officer Katherine Peterson arrived, the passer-by told her the suspect was breaking into the Taco Bell, records say.
At the restaurant, Peterson allegedly saw a heavy-set man in dark jacket who appeared to be wedging a large object between the door and its frame, records say. Peterson drew her pistol and ordered the man to get on the ground, records say.
Peterson handcuffed the man and noticed the double-paned, plate-glass window on the east side of the building was completely shattered, records say.
Peterson asked the man, who was later identified as Mitchell, why he was trying to get into the Taco Bell, and he said, “I was hungry,” court records say.
Mitchell was arrested on an attempted burglary charge.
Ninth Circuit Judge Timonthy C. Day said during Mitchell’s initial appearance that Mitchell registered a 0.234 blood-alcohol concentration at the time of his arrest.
Day set Mitchell’s bail a $10,000 cash or bail bond and provisionally appointed public defender Rob Stepans to his case.
