The USA Police have arrested a man after he broke into a restaurant closed down during the coronavirus pandemic and spent four days gorging himself on the food and drinking loads of booze.
According to reports, the New Haven Police Department in the state of Connecticut found 42-year-old Louis Angel Ortiz asleep holding a bottle of rum inside a local restaurant on April 14, Tuesday.
Officials said they were responding to reports of a robbery in progress, but once they checked the security footage from the cameras in the restaurant they found out that the robbery appeared to have been already in progress for some time before they arrived.
Reports said it looks as if the man already broke into the shuttered business on April 11, Saturday, and that’s an incredibly long time to be gorging into someone else’s liquor and food without anyone noticing.
In a statement released on the New Haven Police Department Instagram page, officials wrote:
“Officers responded to a burglary in progress at a downtown Crown Street restaurant. The caller reported finding an unknown man, later identified as Louis Angel Ortiz, asleep in the closed restaurant.”
“Arriving officers located Ortiz nearby on Crown Street and detained him. The 42-year-old New Haven man was found in possession of a bottle of the restaurant’s rum.”
“Investigators reviewed security video footage which confirmed the initial burglary occurred several days prior on Saturday when Ortiz made entry through a side window of the restaurant.”
“Officers learned Ortiz helped himself for four days to the restaurant’s food, liquor, and beer. In addition to eating and drinking at the restaurant, Ortiz removed beverages and property from the building.”
The statement continued:
“The business had been closed during this time and it was a manager’s routine check of the establishment that led to the discovery of the burglary.”
“Management estimated the loss of food and beverages at several thousand dollars. The loss includes an estimated 70 bottles of stolen or consumed liquor.”
Everyone would agree that 70 bottles of liquor are plenty, let alone for a matter of days. And with this, Ortiz has been charged with third-degree burglary, third-degree larceny, and first-degree criminal mischief.
On top of those charges, he still got an existing rap sheet that covers a few other things, too. His bail was set at $12,500 (£9,900) and he’ll have his day in court before too long.
Maybe after taking the time to sober up, first.