Alice in Wonderland caterpillar 'told FL man to do it'
Crestview police say 32-year-old Mathew Horace Jones (pictured) allegedly used a forklift to damage the building under construction around 9.10pm in Florida
A man is in police custody after he claimed an Alice in Wonderland character coerced him into committing a crime at a Florida construction site.
Crestview police say 32-year-old Mathew Horace Jones broke into a construction site and allegedly used a forklift to damage the building under construction around 9.10pm.
The rampage caused more than $100,000 in damage to the liquor store under construction at the Crestview Walmart and to construction equipment.
Additionally, the suspect damaged a city fire hydrant and a two-inch water meter worth about $3,200.
Crestview Police received calls that the suspect was 'throwing cinder blocks off the scaffolding in the construction zone'.
Authorities, in a Facebook post, say they were told by a building contractor that the damage included:
$40,000 in scaffolding and materials
$15,000 in block and mortar
a $15,000 forklift
a $7,500 mixer
$1,500 mud pans
$4,000 in damaged fencing
Jones is also responsible for about $60,000 in labor to clean and rebuild the site.
When Crestview police officers arrived on scene, Jones aimed the forklift at the officers. However, he was stopped at gunpoint.
The rampage caused more than $100,000 in damage to the liquor store under construction at the Crestview Walmart (pictured) and to construction equipment Additionally, the suspect damaged a city fire hydrant and a two-inch water meter worth about $3,200
Jones told police his name was 'Alice Wonderland and he was told to commit the offenses by a hookah-smoking caterpillar', referencing the character from Lewis Carroll's novel and the subsequent film adaptions (seen here in Walt Disney's 1951 Alice in Wonderland film)
Jones first told police his name was 'Alice Wonderland and he was told to commit the offenses by a hookah-smoking caterpillar', referencing the character from Lewis Carroll's novel and the subsequent film adaptions.
Crestview Police Sgt Don Howe said: 'The defendant stated Walmart was building a place to sell alcohol and he had a problem with it.'
Jones was on probation for burglary. He has since been charged with felony grand theft, use of a motor vehicle to damage property of another in excess of $1,000, criminal mischief with damage greater than $1,000, and violation of felony probation.