EGELSTON TOWNSHIP — Jeremy Allen Baldwin probably wishes the tub of lemon chiffon ice cream he allegedly stole from an Egelston Township shop Sunday hadn't melted during his intoxicated walk back home.

Had it not been for “splatters” of melted ice cream leading investigators from Joni’s Cones, 5283 E. Apple, to a partially eaten tub of ice cream and Baldwin’s cell phone, the 22-year-old Egelston Township man may have gotten away with it.

Instead, Baldwin is facing a 10-year felony for allegedly breaking into the ice cream shop early Sunday morning during what police say was a drinking bender.

Baldwin, of 859 Chandler, was arraigned Tuesday in Muskegon County's 60th District Court before Chief Judge Harold F. Closz III on one count of breaking and entering of a building with intent.

A preliminary examination is slated for 9:30 a.m. May 10. Closz set his bond at $20,000 cash or surety and — noting that Baldwin is unemployed — granted him a public defender.

According to the Muskegon County Sheriff’s Office report, Baldwin had been drinking “whiskey and beer all night” Saturday and early Sunday before walking from a nearby party to the ice cream shop.

Police said Baldwin allegedly entered the shop through a window and once inside, ate ice cream and ransacked the place before walking off with the 3-gallon tub of lemon chiffon.

Investigators at the scene found Baldwin's shoes and followed “ice cream splatters on the sidewalk” eventually to a cell phone that was traced back to Baldwin, whose wallet was also located in the general area.

On Tuesday, Mike Bowen, 26, one of the owner’s of Joni’s Cones, said Sunday's incident was "odd."

Bowen discovered the break-in had occurred Sunday morning when he drove by the shop and saw a pair of shoes outside the door and screens ripped off the windows.

Upon further inspection, Bowen realized nothing — other than ice cream — had been taken.

“He took a 3-gallon tub of lemon chiffon ice cream that he left on Apple Avenue,” Bowen said. “He also ate some of a 3-gallon tub of Blue Moon that was left inside.”

Bowen said because the shop hadn’t been opened for the season, there was “no money there.”

“I don’t know what he planned on gaining from it, besides a trip to jail,” Bowen said.

Once investigators identified Baldwin as a suspect Sunday, they spoke to the still-intoxicated man at his mother’s Chandler Street home and again at the sheriff’s office, authorities said.

Baldwin told police during the interview that: “If you found my shoes next to the ice cream shop door, then I must have broken into it,” the report said.

“He said that it wouldn’t surprise him or anyone else if he did break into this business because he does do stupid things like that when he is drunk,” the report said.

Baldwin told investigators that he has a “drinking problem” and on Sunday likely “blacked out from all the alcohol he drank.”

A friend who had driven Baldwin to the party Saturday night was interviewed Sunday. That man told police he is aware of Baldwin’s “problem with drinking” and referenced a previous night of drinking at a friend’s Twin Lake home.

“He said that the next day they found him miles away sleeping in someone’s yard, and he had no idea how he got there,” the report said.

email: hpeters@muskegonchronicle.com