CRESTVIEW, Florida (WKRG) — According to Crestview police, a 32-year old Freeport man is in custody following a Saturday night rampage.
The rampage caused more than $100,000 in damage to the liquor store under construction at the Crestview Wal-mart and to construction equipment.
Around 9:10 p.m. the suspect, Mathew Horace Jones, used a forklift to damage the building under construction.
According to police, Jones allegedly broke into the fenced-in construction site on the north side of the Ferdon Boulevard South using a JCB extendable forklift parked at the job site.
The building under construction was destroyed. Additionally, the suspect damaged a city fire hydrant and a 2-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.”
According to a building contractor the damage included: $40,000 in scaffolding and materials, $15,000 in block and mortar, a $15,000 forklift, $7,500 mixer, $1,500 mud pans, and $4,000 in damaged fencing.
The suspect, Jones, also caused about $60,000 in labor to clean and rebuild the site.
When Crestview Police Officers arrived on scene, Jones aimed the forklift toward officers. The officers stopped Jones at gunpoint and were able to detain him.
Jones stated his name was “Alice Wonderland and he was told to commit the offenses by a hookah-smoking caterpillar.”
Crestview Police Sgt. Don Howe stated, “the defendant stated Walmart was building a place to sell alcohol and he had a problem with it.”
The suspect was on probation but is now 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.
