Man arrested for hitting door with hoe

 

ST. LUCIE, Fla., March 18 (UPI) -- Florida authorities said an 80-year-old man was arrested for attacking his neighbors' door with a garden hoe because he thought they stole his cookies.

The St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office said the St. Lucie residents called 911 Sunday and reported they were awakened by a "loud banging at the door" that turned out to be neighbor Gene Edward Chambers hitting the door with a garden hoe, TCPalm.com reported Thursday.

Chambers told a deputy who arrived at the scene that he first knocked on the door then fetched the garden hoe when there was no answer. He accused his neighbors of sneaking into his house during the night and stealing seven boxes of "Little Debbie Oatmeal Cookies."

A deputy who searched Chambers' home for signs of theft found five boxes of the snacks and a Walmart receipt from the previous day confirming he had purchased five boxes.

"Chambers was mistaken thinking he had bought seven boxes," deputies wrote in a report.

Chambers was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief. The neighbors' door, which deputies valued at $200, was "damaged beyond repair," the report said.