TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A college student with a history of mental problems barricaded himself in a Capitol office for five and a half hours, demanding liquor, marijuana and 666 doughnuts, authorities said.
Marshall Ledbetter, 22, a Florida State University student, surrendered to sheriff's officers at 12:45 p.m. Friday, said Leon County Undersheriff Larry Campbell. There were no injuries.
'He had on a pair of short pants, a fifth of Jack Daniels in one hand and a great big thing of cigars in the other hand and a big old cigar in his mouth -- just having a really good time of it,' Campbell said of Ledbetter's surrender.
The slight young man, who had locked himselfin the fourth-floor office of Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Wayne Todd, was escorted by police out of an elevator, where he told reporters he had broke into the Capitol building because, 'I needed a soapbox.'
Ledbetter earlier told police he was concerned about homelessness and poverty and had consumed LSD and hallucinogenic mushrooms for nearly three months, Campbell said.
He also had told police he was armed with a gun and had a hostage, which turned out to be false, Campbell said. Sheriff's officials were also concerned that Ledbetter may have had a bomb, but that also was untrue.
Ledbetter agreed to surrender after a television reporter agreed to air locally a written list of demands, which included a case of Japanese beer, 666 doughnuts, a carton of cigarettes, a $100 worth of Chinese food and a news crew from Cable News Network. Ledbetter also asked to talk with several celebrities, including acid-guru Timothy Leary.
Campbell said Ledbetter had earlier used a police radio to demand that police bring him pizza, marijuana, 600 jelly doughnuts and liquor.
During the standoff, Campbell said, police had searched Ledbetter's apartment and found a copy of 'The Anarchist's Cookbook,' which included directions for making bombs. Ledbetter, however, was not carrying any explosives when he was arrested.
State employees arriving for work early Friday were turned away and told to go home for the day, said Dick Simpson, a Leon County Sheriff's Department spokesman.
Before Ledbetter surrendered, Gayle Andrews, an aide to Senate President Gwen Margolis, D-Miami, said the intruder was 'a young man with a history of emotional problems.'
Ledbetter apparently used a liquor bottle wrapped in a towel to break into the 22-story building through a glass door about 4 a.m., Simpson said. The intruder called police and reported the break in but patrol officers were unable to find the broken door and assumed the report was false.
'It looks like he had a plan,' Campbell said. 'For instance, the bottle that he used to break in was apparently intended to look like a bomb. It was found at the south entrace of the building.'
Ledbetter allegedly threw a liquor bottle at a cleaning woman who entered the sergeant-at-arms office shortly after 7 a.m., Campbell said. The woman was struck on the head but was not seriously injured.
She called security who contacted police and the Sheriff's Department, which surrounded the building with snipers.
