theyardsatunionstation.jpg

Portland police say a 25-year-old man stole a fire pit from the patio of an apartment at The Yards at Union Station on Jan. 29. He put it on the back of his cart and brought it beneath the Broadway Bridge to warm himself and his wife, according to court records.

(The Yards at Union Station)

A 25-year-old man accused of stealing a fire pit from the patio of a Northwest Portland apartment and taking it to use to warm him and his wife beneath the Broadway Bridge was arraigned Monday on robbery charges.

Joseph Allen Mulberry

Joseph Allen Mulberry entered a not guilty plea Monday morning to second-degree robbery in Multnomah County Circuit Court.

He's being held at the Multnomah County Detention Center.

Mulberry is accused of stealing the fire pit from a patio of The Yards at Union Station apartments, off Northwest Naito Parkway, and threatening the owner who was awakened by loud noises, according to a probable cause affidavit.

The resident grabbed a baseball bat to confront the intruder, police said. But Mulberry told him to "back off, I have a knife,'' the affidavit said.

Mulberry put the fire pit on the back of a car and brought it beneath the Broadway Bridge, police said. He told police that he and his wife really needed it, according to the affidavit.

Mulberry is on Multnomah County supervision for a first-degree sex abuse conviction and is a registered sex offender, according to court records.

On Monday, he also entered not guilty pleas to possession of a weapon in a park and second-degree criminal trespass in an unrelated incident from Jan. 21. Police said he was in Tom McCall Waterfront Park that day with a knife with a blade longer than three-and-a-half-inches.

He's due back in court on March 23.

--Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212; @maxoregonian