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Suspect Threatened To Bite Off Deputies' Noses After Breaking Into Virginia Panera: Sheriff

James Lee really wanted his breakfast on Wednesday morning, and a trip to Panera turned into a visit to the local jail when he went berserk on employees and deputies in Stafford County.

James Lee

James Lee

Photo Credit: Google Maps street view/Stafford County Sheriff

Shortly after 5 a.m. on Aug. 7, deputies were called to Panera Bread in the 1000 block of Stafford Market Place, where staff reported an agitated, intoxicated man was banging on the door, demanding to be let in - despite the eatery not being open yet.

Lee, 50 could have used some coffee to help sober up.

Unwilling to wait an hour until it opened at 6 a.m., a spokesperson for the Stafford County Sheriff's Office said that the Catlett man forced his way into the business, then refused to leave until staffers called 911.

He then took off on foot in a fruitless effort to evade his arrest.

Lee didn't get far, and deputies tracked him down at the Circle K on Prosperity Lane "in an intoxicated state," at which point he began spewing curse words before being detained.

That only further enraged him, according to the sheriff's office.

Lee began to threaten the lives of deputies - including biting off their noses - during his tirade, despite family members at the scene encouraging him to cooperate and simmer down.

Instead, Lee got himself in hotter water by assaulting a deputy twice - who suffered minor injuries - and lunging at another at the jail while he was being detained, though no noses were harmed.

Lee was charged with three counts of assault and battery on law enforcement, three counts of obstruction of justice, trespassing, using abusive language, and public intoxication.

He was held at the Rappahannock Regional Jail without bond in part because "of his unruly behavior." 

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