A man who broke into Miller Park last week appears to have had a very specific task in mind, and the behavior has earned him a felony charge of criminal damage to property and a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct.
A criminal complaint that was reviewed by Elliot Hughes of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel states that 40-year-old Keyon A. Lambert illegally entered Miller Park, the home of the Milwaukee Brewers, on the morning of June 2. He told police he saw an unlocked gate and decided to wander inside, where grounds crews were working on the facility. Hughes then commandeered a tractor, later telling police he had never driven one before and wanted to try carving his name into the grass.
The tractor wasn’t fast enough for Lambert to accomplish his goal, but he still drove it across the field lowering and raising the bucket. He damaged the pitcher’s mound and dug other holes in the turf, causing an estimated $40,000 in damage.
Lambert told police he “decided to show off” after he saw groundskeepers recording him on their phones. There was some speculation that he may have had a connection to protests that were going on in the area in the wake of George Floyd’s death, but it was determined that there was no association.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen someone vandalize a stadium, but it’s hard to remember anyone being so confident about it. It sounds like Lambert immediately set a goal for himself as soon as he saw that gate unlocked.
