Monday evening, Crossville police found a local man sitting in a chair in the tree line along the Crossville City Hall property. They’d received several complaints from employees regarding a man sitting, standing or hiding in the trees near where employees park their vehicles.

Female employees have reported being startled by the man in the trees when they leave work later in the evening, because they can’t see him until they’re almost right up on him due to the foliage and the dark.

When the officer explained this particular scenario to the man, he said he understood the concern for the employees’ safety, and explained he was only using the guest WiFi. The officer advised him City Hall WiFi doesn’t have a guest option.

After a bit of investigating, the officer was able to determine the man was trying to access the Church of Christ WiFi; according to the incident report, the officer told the man if he was going to use their WiFi, “he should go stand in their parking lot and see if the church appreciates his hanging out in their parking lot.”

The officer then told him to clear out and not be lurking in the trees again or he’d be arrested for trespassing. Even though the area is open to the public during business hours, he was not welcome to loiter or hide in the trees if he had no business to conduct at City Hall.

The officer then removed his chair and the man went across the street to use the Church of Christ’s free guest WiFi.

The officer followed up with a message to the Public Works Department, suggesting they put up signs to the effect of “No trespassing unless conducting official business with the City of Crossville” along the edges of the property near the Village Inn.