Firefighters at the St Joseph Fire Department headquarters got a surprise Monday night when they found a local homeless man eating their spaghetti dinner.

During an emergency call shortly after 9pm, most of the team were away from the fire house at 401 South Seven Street.

That’s when the remaining firefighters heard a commotion in the kitchen and caught the suspect eating their spaghetti dinner. They detained him until police could arrive.

Commander Eric Protzman of the St Joseph Police Department tells us Stephen Stokes, 51, climbed a ladder on the side of the building to gain entry. Stokes was booked into jail on a charge of burglary.

“Technically it’s burglary. He broke into an occupied structure to commit a criminal act,” Protzman says. “In this case, the criminal act was stealing, as in eating the spaghetti.”

Officials believe Stokes had been asked to leave a local homeless shelter because of his drinking.

(Note: Stokes has been charged with burglary in the 2nd degree, a class-c felony. A judge set bond at $10,000. Arraignment is scheduled Friday)