A homeless man from Lady Lake was arrested for criminal mischief after destroying a mailbox at Ace Hardware in Fruitland Park.
Police responded to a vandalism in progress at Ace Hardware, located at 3431 U.S. Highway 27/441, at around 7:25 a.m. Saturday, according to an arrest report from the Fruitland Park Police Department.
Upon arrival at the scene, the officer observed 52-year-old Neal Patrick Waldemayer only wearing his boxers and standing in the grassy area entrance of the store. He was about five feet from a mailbox that was lying in the middle of the paved entrance to the building, the report said.
The officer tried speaking to Waldemayer, who was uncooperative and stated his feet were hurt and he needed water. At that point, the officer detained him for further investigation. He voluntarily admitted he destroyed the mailbox because he was thirsty, tired of walking and mad as the officer went to go speak to a witness, the report said.
An Ace Hardware employee said when he arrived to open the store, he noticed multiple items in the parking lot were out of place. There were normally wooden barriers and chained signs stating “employees only beyond this point” across the back portion of the parking lot where they keep some of their merchandise, and they had been knocked over and broken, the report said.
Additionally, the employee said the water hose along the side of the building was turned on full blast, and there were multiple bags of soil and such that had been knocked over and broken open, the report said.
The employee said he then observed Waldemayer sitting against the sign near the entrance and asked if he could help him in any way, the report said. Waldemayer got hysterical and started swearing. He proceeded to walk over to the mailbox, pick it up out of the ground and throw it into the paved entrance of the parking lot. The total damage was later estimated to be about $500, according to the report.
During the investigation, an abandoned pair of shorts was found lying in the parking lot, the report said. Waldemayer admitted they were his, and he advised that they contained his ID and a piece of mail addressed to the store.
A search of the shorts revealed a shoe, a wallet containing Waldemayer’s ID, other personal items and a check made out to the business for $25.69. The report noted the check was damaged due to Waldemayer soiling his shorts in urine prior to taking them off.
Based on the totality of the circumstances, the Ohio native was arrested on charges of criminal mischief and theft. He was transported to the Lake County Jail with bond set at $3,000.
