Squatter discovered living at Washington, Mo. city hall
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 38° 33.422 W 091° 00.757
15S E 673166 N 4269494
Two weeks, two weeks before they discovered him.
Waymark Code: WMZB9B
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 10/13/2018
Views: 1
County of city hall: Franklin County
Location of city hall: Jefferson St. & 4th St., SW corner, Washington
Built: 1923
"WASHINGTON, Mo. (KMOV.com) - 24-year old Justin Beckmann has been charged with burglary and auto theft after police say he’d been living at city hall in Washington for two weeks.
"Det. Sgt. Steve Sitze told News 4, "He'd leave early in the morning before city employees got there to go to his job and then he would just hang out and mill about after he got off work till city hall closed."
"Sitze said Beckmann found a key in a rear door to city hall, left by a worker, that he discovered and used on a daily basis to get into the city’s engineering department where he slept on the floor.
"It wasn’t until after a city hall squatter was discovered that employees realized why food left overnight in a break room refrigerator kept disappearing. A worker in the engineering department said her frozen tortellini dinner disappeared during that time period.
"According to Sitze, Beckmann found the keys to a Chevy Impala used by the engineering department and took the car out for joy rides several times. But Sunday night, a citizen took a photo of a city vehicle driving recklessly on Highway A between Washington and Union and sent it to the city.
'"The subject that was driving the vehicle was someone who was well known to us as a homeless male who had been frequenting our area for some time," said Sitze.
"Investigators say when they located Beckmann and spoke with him, he admitted being the city hall squatter.
"City officials say they plan to change the lock on the door and there could be other changes to security.
'"It did cause us to go ahead and take a look at our security for all of city hall. So we're going to be looking at that in the future," said city administrator Darren Lamb.
"Bond for Beckmann was set at $15,000. At last check he hadn’t made bail yet and was still living in his new home, the Franklin County jail." ~ KMOV4 - by Russell Kinsaul, September 13, 2018