A man was arrested after he was caught chiseling this hole into a Manheim Township business.
A man was arrested after he was caught chiseling this hole into a Manheim Township business.
A alleged burglar tried to chisel his way into a Manheim Township business early Sunday morning.
He broke through through the outer wall, made from brick, and was working on the next layer, made from concrete block, police said.
But he was caught by police before he could gain access to the Labor Ready temp agency off New Holland Avenue.
Manheim Township police charged Sitha Hen, 35, of Ayres Court, with burglary and criminal mischief.
The branch manager of the employment agency was mystified as to why Hen was trying to break into her office in such an unusual way.
She did not recognize Hen's name or think he was a client of the business, which places people in general labor positions.
"I think it's the craziest, most ridiculous thing I've seen in my life," Heather Beckley said.
She also did not know what Hen was trying to get at in the building. The agency does house a cash-dispensing machine, equivalent to a bank's automated teller machine, but she said it is self-contained and would be almost impossible to steal.
"You would need something huge to haul it out," she said. "It's bolted down, and it's not going anywhere.
"Other than that, we have the regular office equipment."
No damage estimate was available for the basketball-sized hole Hen left in the two layers of the building.
Hen was caught after Lancaster police Sgt. Jeff Haas was patrolling the rear of the Grandview Plaza shopping center, which is at the Manheim Township/Lancaster city line.
Haas saw Hen chiseling the wall behind the temp agency, said Manheim Township police Sgt. Tom Rudzinski. The rear wall borders an isolated wooded area.
Hen fled on foot. A short time later, he was found along New Holland Avenue and taken into custody, Rudzinski said.
He was being held in Lancaster County Prison on Monday.