Man wrecks liquor shop, blames "caterpillar"

CRESTVIEW, Fla. - A Florida man arrested for destroying a liquor store under construction told police he was Alice in Wonderland and that a "hookah-smoking caterpillar" ordered him to attack the site.

They say it happened Saturday night.  911 calls flooded the dispatch center around 9:10 p.m. after people saw a man attacking the building with a forklift.

During his rampage, he also damaged a fire hydrant and a 2-inch water meter valued at $3,200. Callers to 911 also said the man “was throwing cinder blocks off the scaffolding in the construction zone.”

Crestview police said that Matthew Horace Jones, 32, is accused of causing more than $100,000 in damage. He faces grand theft felony and other charges.

Witnesses called 911 and police went to the site. The police report says Jones aimed the forklift toward officers, who stopped him at gunpoint.

Police quoted Jones as identifying himself as Alice in Wonderland, blaming the attack on "a hookah-smoking caterpillar"

Later Jones provided his correct name and agreed to explain his actions to arresting officers.

“The defendant stated (Walmart was) building a place to sell alcohol and he had a problem with it,” Crestview Police Sgt. Don Howe stated in an arrest report.

Jones was charged with felony grand theft; use of a motor vehicle to damage property of another in excess of $1,000; criminal mischief with damage greater than $1,000; and violation of felony probation. Jones is currently on probation for burglary.

He was remanded to the Okaloosa County jail.  No lawyer was listed for him.