Teh One Who Knocks
09-02-2021, 11:30 AM
By Jessica Barnett, The News Courier, Athens, Ala. (TNS) and Tribune Media Services
https://i.imgur.com/n8kgd1M.jpg
A Springfield, Tennessee, man is behind bars in Limestone County after damaging hotel property and setting fire to his room, all in an alleged attempt to escape people he believed were entering the room through the air conditioning unit and shower, records show.
According to Athens Police, officers were dispatched to the Budget Inn on U.S. 31 around 3:30 a.m. Tuesday after a fire was reported. Once there, an officer spoke with the hotel owner, who said the person responsible for the fire “had taken off on a red motorcycle” toward the Circle K convenience store, according to an incident report filed Tuesday.
The room was registered to a Robert Reginald Ledbetter, 44, according to the report. Athens Police Chief Floyd Johnson said Officer Jeffery Dailey found Ledbetter and the red motorcycle at the Circle K, and after Ledbetter agreed to go back to the hotel with Dailey, he began sharing his story behind the fire.
“Robert told me that someone followed him from Nashville,” Dailey wrote in his report, adding Ledbetter claimed to have filed a report with Nashville law enforcement. " Nashville Metro Police have no records of Robert filing a report.”
Ledbetter went on to say that he thought he’d seen the person who followed him attempting to enter his hotel room from the air conditioning unit, according to Dailey, so he piled all of his furniture up against the door. Ledbetter then suspected someone might be trying to come in through the shower, so he “threw his microwave and refrigerator into the bathtub,” the report reads.
After putting the hotel items in the tub, he told officers the door wouldn’t unlock, so he “attempted to melt the window by igniting a sheet tied to a curtain rod.” Officers said this led to the curtains catching fire, and Ledbetter continued his alleged escape attempt by ripping down drywall from a spot by the window.
“Robert tried to burn the interior of the wall in (an) attempt to escape his hallucination,” Dailey’s report reads. “Robert told me he used his motorcycle helmet to break open the window. Robert’s motorcycle helmet had dents and scratches matching the described use.”
However, officers found no evidence of the door being tampered with or anyone attempting to remove the air conditioning unit so they could enter the hotel room. Dailey said the shower was backed by a solid cement wall and noted the hotel’s owner had agreed to review the hotel’s security cameras “to confirm there was no one outside.”
Meanwhile, Ledbetter was arrested on charges of first-degree arson and second-degree criminal mischief. He was booked at the Athens Police Department before being transferred to the Limestone County Detention Center, where he remained Tuesday night. Records show bail was set at $1,000 for the criminal mischief charge but has not been set for the arson charge.
https://i.imgur.com/n8kgd1M.jpg
A Springfield, Tennessee, man is behind bars in Limestone County after damaging hotel property and setting fire to his room, all in an alleged attempt to escape people he believed were entering the room through the air conditioning unit and shower, records show.
According to Athens Police, officers were dispatched to the Budget Inn on U.S. 31 around 3:30 a.m. Tuesday after a fire was reported. Once there, an officer spoke with the hotel owner, who said the person responsible for the fire “had taken off on a red motorcycle” toward the Circle K convenience store, according to an incident report filed Tuesday.
The room was registered to a Robert Reginald Ledbetter, 44, according to the report. Athens Police Chief Floyd Johnson said Officer Jeffery Dailey found Ledbetter and the red motorcycle at the Circle K, and after Ledbetter agreed to go back to the hotel with Dailey, he began sharing his story behind the fire.
“Robert told me that someone followed him from Nashville,” Dailey wrote in his report, adding Ledbetter claimed to have filed a report with Nashville law enforcement. " Nashville Metro Police have no records of Robert filing a report.”
Ledbetter went on to say that he thought he’d seen the person who followed him attempting to enter his hotel room from the air conditioning unit, according to Dailey, so he piled all of his furniture up against the door. Ledbetter then suspected someone might be trying to come in through the shower, so he “threw his microwave and refrigerator into the bathtub,” the report reads.
After putting the hotel items in the tub, he told officers the door wouldn’t unlock, so he “attempted to melt the window by igniting a sheet tied to a curtain rod.” Officers said this led to the curtains catching fire, and Ledbetter continued his alleged escape attempt by ripping down drywall from a spot by the window.
“Robert tried to burn the interior of the wall in (an) attempt to escape his hallucination,” Dailey’s report reads. “Robert told me he used his motorcycle helmet to break open the window. Robert’s motorcycle helmet had dents and scratches matching the described use.”
However, officers found no evidence of the door being tampered with or anyone attempting to remove the air conditioning unit so they could enter the hotel room. Dailey said the shower was backed by a solid cement wall and noted the hotel’s owner had agreed to review the hotel’s security cameras “to confirm there was no one outside.”
Meanwhile, Ledbetter was arrested on charges of first-degree arson and second-degree criminal mischief. He was booked at the Athens Police Department before being transferred to the Limestone County Detention Center, where he remained Tuesday night. Records show bail was set at $1,000 for the criminal mischief charge but has not been set for the arson charge.