With Independence Day approaching, a homeless Middle Georgia man wanted to display his patriotic spirit and hang the American flag under a bridge where he lives.
But Bibb County sheriff’s officials say Joseph Talmadge Schrader chose the wrong place and method to acquire Old Glory.
According to the Telegraph of Macon, he allegedly stole the flag from a sheriff’s office annex in downtown Macon.
Authorities didn’t have to look far to solve the crime, which happened early Monday, the newspaper reported.
Aided by security video, authorities located the flag and the suspect on the bank of the Ocmulgee River by midday Tuesday, according to the Telegraph.
Schrader’s motive?
“I was drunk,” he told authorities. “And I like flags.”
Schrader, 61, is no stranger to deputies, officials said. He has been in and out of prison several times since the 1990s on charges of burglary, criminal damage and theft.
In this case, he was charged with theft by taking, and he remained in jail Wednesday in lieu of $650 bond.
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