In Reversal, Collegian Dressed As Teletubby Will Face Charges For Break-In, Theft Of Chinese Food Leftovers

In a reversal, Pennsylvania police have filed criminal charges against a college student who, dressed as the yellow Teletubby, broke into his friends’s home, raided the refrigerator, and fled with leftover Chinese food that he dumped into his “man purse.”

Cops yesterday slapped Terez Owens, 20, with criminal mischief and disorderly conduct counts in connection with Sunday’s 2 AM break-in at a Bethlehem apartment two blocks from the campus of Lehigh University, which Owens attends.

According to a Bethlehem Police Department report, a male suspect broke into an apartment “while wearing a yellow Tele Tubbie outfit.” He then “took Chinese food from the refrigerator and dumped it into his man purse” before departing.

Investigators quickly identified the 6’ 2”, 310-pound Owens (seen at right) as the man in the “Laa-Laa,” costume. “Chinese food was found in his purse,” noted cops, who reported that sesame chicken and sweet and sour chicken were purloined. Additionally, “The Tele Tubbie had cut himself and also left blood all over the place.”

While Owens’s friends--who also attend Lehigh--initially declined to press charges, when they realized that they would be responsible for a $495 repair bill, they had a change of heart, according to police Chief Mark DiLuzio. The collegian, a business major from Jacksonville, Florida, will receive a criminal summons by mail, added DiLuzio.

Owens, who has played on Lehigh’s football team, was arrested earlier this year for theft and receiving stolen property (though those charges were later withdrawn). He was cited in August for underage purchase of alcohol, according to court records.