Someone did a number on The Pancake and Christmas House in McCall over the weekend, hurling antiques off a balcony onto the restaurant floor.
The prime suspect: a man found snoozing in a child-size bed in the Heirloom Antique Shop upstairs.
An employee arriving at work at 4:15 a.m. Saturday found so much broken glass that she thought there was an earthquake, said Bonnie Bertram, who owns the pancake place with her husband, George.
Police followed a trail of debris upstairs to the antique shop, one of five businesses sharing the building on 3rd Street.
“They heard someone snoring, and they drew their guns and found this big guy in an antique baby crib,” Bertram said.
Police had to wake Jeffery J. Baney, a 22-year-old Nampa man who had shed his pants and underwear before lying down to sleep.
“He didn’t respond to commands to show his hands,” said Det. Sgt. Larry Stokes.
Baney was arraigned Monday on two counts of felony malicious injury to property and one count of misdemeanor trespass. He pleaded not guilty.
Stokes said there’s no doubt that Baney had been drinking.
“As soon as they opened the door of the patrol vehicle, the odor came wafting out,” Stokes said. “Apparently he had been out having a good time and didn’t remember what had occurred.”
Stokes said Baney is believed to have tossed a large number of items on tables on the first floor, including an antique brass headboard, a 4-foot Santa Claus and a metal bathtub.
The incident occurred during one of McCall’s busiest weekends of the year. The Winter Carnival, which runs through this weekend, attracts 25,000 to 30,000 people to the area.
Bertram said that if the intruder was looking for a place to sleep, the hotel across the street — or even the neighboring sheepskin store — would have been more comfortable. He was resting on top of a number of items.
She estimated damage to doors and merchandise in the thousands of dollars.
“Not sure what prompts a person to viciously throw things,” said Bertram, who couldn’t help but laugh thinking of a big man curled up in old metal crib. “I’d be more mad if it weren’t so funny.”
Katy Moeller: 377-6413
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