Burglary? Man in lighting store’s crawl space with latex gloves said he was just hungry

The man was inside a lighting store in the middle of the night and wearing latex gloves.

He insisted he was just looking for a bite to eat, Fife police said.

The officers didn’t believe him, and arrested the 50-year-old man.

The man has pleaded not guilty to first-degree burglary and is being held in lieu of $1 million bail.

Charging papers give this account:

Officers were called about 4:15 a.m. Thursday to a lighting store in the 3200 block of 20th Street East.

They found the door to the business open and a man standing inside.

Police yelled for him to come outside but he refused. When officers went inside, they found the man hiding in a crawl space. He wore latex gloves and carried a knife.

He denied burglarizing the store.

Instead, he said he was walking by when he noticed people carrying items out of the business. They told him the store was open, he said, so he went inside looking for something to eat.

When police showed up, he said he panicked.

This story was originally published October 29, 2018 at 8:48 AM.