While there’s been plenty of discussion of press box food and sportswriters’ unusual habits over the years, what happened in Pleasant Grove, Alabama last week was surprising even by those standards. As per John Mann of Birmingham ABC affiliate WBMA, 37-year-old Matthew Williamson was found in the Pleasant Grove Athletic Complex press box (home to Pleasant Grove High School Baseball), surrounded by quite the pile of food and drugs. Oh, and that all came after he made bond off a previous offence:
The Pleasant Grove Department of Public Safety says 37-year-old Matthew Williamson was charged September 17th with Unlawful Breaking and Entering a Vehicle and Theft of Property. He was transported to the Jefferson County Jail.
According to a news release, less than two hours after Williamson made bond he stole a car in Hueytown and hid it in Pleasant Grove. On September 22 there was a report of an unknown person breaking into the concession stand at the Pleasant Grove Athletic Complex.
The next morning Williamson was found sleeping in the press box among a pile of chicken fingers, chips, candy and meth. Williamson admitted to the crimes and was transported to the Jefferson County jail in Bessemer. He is being held on a $32,000 bond.
Maybe the biggest question here is about the chicken fingers. Were these already-cooked chicken fingers? Or did Williamson manage to operate the deep fryer? (Oh, and beyond that, it’s interesting that there was a report of that break-in last Wednesday night, but that they didn’t find him in the press box until the following morning.) At any rate, this was an unusual situation even for a press box.