A Missoula hotel tried to discover what was causing power outages and hot water shortages on Saturday morning, December 9, when they found criminal activity behind the utility problem. Missoula Police Public information Officer Travis welsh says the call came in around 8:30 a.m.

"We had report of a male that had vandalized a utility room at a hotel located in the 5200 block of Grant Creek Road," Welsh says. "The  male had pulled things off of walls, had torn insulation off of piping and water heaters and then, in fact, had turned off hot water and power to other hotel guests.

It appears the man was trying to take up residence in the utility room and when hotel staff tried to confront the man, he attacked.

"The hotel sent a maintenance man to try to research the problem, where he ran into the suspect in the utility room," Welsh said. "The suspect, Jeremy Hanson, 37, is said to have attacked the maintenance employee and then fled the hotel, running down the hallway, wearing nothing but boxer shorts."

Missoula County Sheriff's officers encountered Mr. Hanson in Frenchtown later that day after a distress call that he might be suicidal. Hanson is now in jail for Felony Aggravated Burglary. He was in jail just last week on charges that he crashed his pickup truck into another Missoulian's motorcycle and walked away from the scene.

More From KMPT-AM