Anthony James Lee RichardsMESA, Ariz. -
Mesa Police have arrested a man who they say broke into a Chinese restaurant to steal a single container of ice cream.
Late Wednesday night, police were called to the Big Bowl Chinese Restaurant at 1910 E Broadway Rd after a witness called police to say a man had just broke a glass door.
Officers arrived at the scene and observed a black male leave the business through the broken glass door and run across the street with something in his hands.
The man ran into an apartment complex nearby and police set up a perimeter. During the search for the suspect, police found an ice cream container lying on the ground. The ice cream had been the only item stolen from the restaurant during the burglary, police say.
A witness at the apartment complex who didn't want to be identified told police where the suspect went. Anthony James Lee Richards was inside one of the units, pretending to be asleep.
Richards was placed under arrest, and had changed clothes since the burglary. That clothing was found in the apartment, police say.
Richards was booked into jail on charges of residential trespassing and commercial burglary. He is also suspected of being involved in two other recent burglaries at Chinese restaurants.
