Six weeks after throwing a chair through a window at his workplace, a Taco Bell employee pleaded guilty on Jan. 27 to the “attempted malicious destruction of a building” in Hillsdale County Circuit Court.
Dakota Joblinski, a 22-year-old manager at the store, was arrested shortly after trashing the Taco Bell on Carleton Road where he was employed.
According to Hillsdale County Prosecutor Neal Brady, Joblinski came to the store from a Christmas Eve party that night. Angry about having to close the store, he started ripping out self-checkout kiosks, flipping over tables, and destroying the interior of the store. In the midst of his rage, Joblisnksi’s mother drove by the front of the restaurant.
“When she came to the parking lot, a chair flew through the window,” Brady said.
Other employees came to the scene to subdue Joblinski’s rage, according to Brady.
After a call from Joblinski’s mother, police arrived on the scene. Shattered glass littered the floor, broken chairs leaned on each other, and a half-empty container of Fireball Cinnamon Whisky lay on the ground. Stepping through the mess, officers brought Joblinski out from the office in the back of the store at gunpoint, according to Brady
“I’m not sure who it was that told him to clean up. How it all played out and why it played out is still unexplained,” Brady said. “He was drunk, and he just went crazy.”
Police charged Joblinski with “malicious destruction of property over $1,000.” The nature of the charge means no one can know for sure what, if any, drugs were in Joblinski’s system at the time, but police do know he was intoxicated, according to Brady.
On Jan. 27, Joblinski pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of “attempted malicious destruction of a building.” The other two charges were dropped, according to Brennon Balcom, deputy clerk of the circuit court.
Now, Joblinski awaits sentencing on Feb. 24. He faces a maximum penalty of two years in prison. The court has to prepare a report that factors in his family, work, and criminal background for a Hillsdale County Circuit Court judge to decide on a sentence. He could receive the full two-year prison sentence, but the clerk said that’s unlikely.
“It’s obvious he did it. Why he did it, who knows?” Brady said.