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A 32-year-old Florida man claiming to be named Alice Wonderland has been arrested after he cost $100,000 in damage to an under construction liquor store.
Florida police have arrested 32-year-old Mathew Horace Jones after he claimed an Alice in Wonderland character forced him to commit a crime at a Florida construction site.
According to Crestview police, Jones broke into a construction site and allegedly used a forklift to damage the building under construction. Horace’s little joyride (or should we call it an acid ride?) cost more than $100,000 in damage to the liquor store under construction at the Crestview Walmart and to construction equipment.
via WKRG:
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.
While being detained, Jones said that his name was “Alice Wonderland” and that he was told to commit the offenses by a “hookah-smoking caterpillar.”
Jones, who was already on probation, was 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.
