MEDICAL LAKE, Wash. – A man was arrested Sunday night after reportedly breaking into a business to escape the cold weather and sleeping on the couch inside.
According to a press release from the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to a commercial alarm at a business near Highway 902 and South Bartholomew Road, east of Medical Lake, around 11:30 p.m.
The alarm company informed deputies that video footage showed an unknown man inside the building, accoridng to the press release.
Deputies said when they arrived, they discovered signs of a break-in, including shattered glass and a hole in a window large enough for a person to climb through. Despite announcing their presence, neither deputies nor officers from the Airway Heights Police Department received a response from the suspect. Police could see the man lying on a couch inside the business.
Deputies said they used a public address system to communicate with the suspect, later identified as 59-year-old Russell Garner. He eventually walked outside and surrendered without incident.
Garner told officers he had been walking toward Seattle when the cold became unbearable. According to the press release, he threw a rock through the window to enter the building, where he found a couch and decided to rest.
No one else was found inside the business, and the employee estimated the damage caused by Garner’s actions at more than $750 according to deputies.
Garner was medically evaluated before being transported to the Spokane County Jail, where he was booked on charges of second-degree burglary and second-degree malicious mischief.
He appeared in Spokane County Superior Court, where his bond was set at $250.
