Man mistakes courthouse for Hilton hotel, winds up at county jail
An Oklahoma man who said he somehow managed to confuse a Texas courthouse with a Hilton hotel in Waco over the weekend wound up with a bed at the county jail.
Harold Anthony Schroeder, 35, was charged with misdemeanor criminal trespass after he was found asleep in a third-floor courtroom of the McLennan County courthouse on Saturday morning, reports the Waco Tribune.
However, Schroeder was not charged with burglary because he had no intention of stealing and was just looking for a place to sleep, said Capt. Steve Smith of the county sheriff’s department. Investigators determined that the slide lock on the courthouse entrance door may not have been fully engaged, allowing Schroeder to open the door simply by pushing it.
A report by deputies indicates that alcohol was involved in the incident. Schroeder was wearing a Sooners shirt and may have been in town for the game with Baylor on Saturday night, the newspaper suggests.
The jail is locally known as the “Harwell Hilton,” in honor of former sheriff Jack Harwell, the article notes. Schroeder posted $1,000 bail and was released Saturday afternoon.
