Austin man sentenced in damage to property case

Published 10:01 am Saturday, June 17, 2017

A 25-year-old Austin man has been sentenced to a year in jail after he allegedly threw a brick through the door at Bell Liquor in Austin in February.

Mal Pauliet Tharjiath will get credit for 119 days served. He must also pay restitution of $1,157.95. He was sentenced Friday in Mower County District Court.

According to the complaint, Tharjiath tried to gain entry into the store on the evening of Feb. 17, but the store, on South Main Street, was already closed for the evening. The clerk there said a man in a hooded tan jacket knocked on the door, and said, “Let me in,” through the glass, but the clerk refused, saying the business was closed.

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The man walked away and returned with a brick, which he allegedly threw through the front door of the business.

Officers believed the description given by the clerk matched that of a male who had cut off his Department of Corrections ankle bracelet a half an hour earlier near Eighth Street and Sixth Avenue Northeast. Tharjiath was seen walking near the liquor store a short time later, apprehended, and brought back to the store, where the clerk identified him as the man who tried to come into the store.

Pauliet pled guilty to the gross misdemeanor charge of third-degree damage to property, value $501-$1,000. He also pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of fleeing a police officer by means other than a motor vehicle.