A Mississippi man resorted to vandalism to get arrested, so he could spend time in jail and escape cold. The man had earlier asked Adams County Sheriff if he could stay in jail. When the officer declined his request, he went on a window breaking spree, so as to get arrested.
Man requests for shelter in jail
Adams County Sheriff, Travis Patten said that the homeless man came to his office on Thursday morning and asked the officer, if he could stay in the jail, to get rid of cold. The deputies turned the man's request down and told him that he cannot stay in jail due to liability reasons, The Natchez Democrat reported.
It was then, that the man decided to take matters in his own hands. "I will make you lock me", the man told the officers.
Goes on a window breaking spree, eventually gets arrested
He exited the sheriff's office, went to the first floor of the courthouse and started breaking windows with his elbow. He again went back to the sheriff's office, went to its lobby, grabbed a table and started breaking windows at the office's entrance. The man was eventually arrested and taken into custody, Adams County sheriff, informed.
Incident throws light to larger issue of homelessness
Pattern said that the incident highlights the need for a broader conversation in the community about the area's homeless population. "It shows the need for some kind of shelter for the homeless," Patten said. "If there was a shelter, he would not have to have committed a crime to have been able to get out of the cold and have a hot meal".
According to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development's Annual Homeless Assessment Report, as of 2018, there were around 553,000 homeless people in the United States on a given night, that represented 0.17% of the population.
