A candy bandit was caught red-handed in Penn Township, police said.
The suspect, Thomas Troutner, was arrested moments after the robbery at a party store.
Police said he just got out of prison and used his first day of freedom to break into Mary Lou's Party World.
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"He mostly went after things that were edible, and that was it," an employee, Susan Hans, told Channel 11. "He helped himself to the candy and the cookies, and then he left."
Police said the burglar broke in by smashing a window around 1:30 Saturday morning, cleaned out the candy case and walked out.
Just minutes after the silent alarm was triggered, Penn Township police found Troutner walking down Business Route 66 with towels wrapped around his bleeding hands, snacking on candy stamped with a Mary Lou's Party World price tag.
Employees said the glass and blood found at the scene contaminated the candy and is costly to replace.
"The candy case had to be totally cleaned out, and all the candy had to be weighed and thrown away, and that added up to over a $1,000 just there," Hans said.
Troutner had just been released from prison six hours earlier.
When police asked him about the break-in, he said he was homeless, depressed, hungry and wanted something to eat, and that's something the 80-year-old owner, Mary Lou, took to heart.
Hans said, "She wanted to have a talk with him, because she's a positive person, and she really feels in every person there's something redeemable."
Cox Media Group
