MSU Chemical Engineering Major Tyler James Borgognoni became known to the Starkville Police Department as the ‘Beanie Baby Burglar’ after he was arrested and charged for breaking into SAGE Coffee and Books late Monday night attempting to steal, along with several books and albums, a number of collectable Beanie Babies. 
   SAGE Coffee and Books is located on Lummus Drive near the Cotton District, a used book store owned and operated by Lara Hammond who said she moved her business from Meridian to Starkville around a year ago.
  “He picked some good books,” Hammond said during a brief phone interview. “Not sure what his mindset was though.”
   Hammond said the break in occurred around midnight, and the arrest happened after a neighbor called the police after hearing noises come from the closed store.
Borgognoni was charged with Commercial Burglary of a business, and was sent to Oktibbeha County Jail until his $5,000 bail was posted later that Tuesday. 
 Hammond, who said the total damages to her business are about $300, said she is not pressing charges and is more amused by the situation than angry.    Most of the damages stemmed not from items missing after the break-in, but rather from the burglar having knocked several displays over such as a rack of vinyl records and removing the tags from a few of the Beanie Babies, which nullifies the toy’s value as collector items.
  The bookstore owner said she could only guess at his motivation, because what he attempted to steal and the way the neighbor described the situation did not match more common break-ins. In addition to nabbing the stuffed animals, Hammond said he tried to steal several books, albums, and an assortment of other items he attempted to carry away in a makeshift knapsack made out of a blanket he found in the store. 
She said she was contacted a SPD officer, who she gave a short statement to over the phone earlier this week. She expects to give an official statement with a final tally of damages in person soon.
 “(The officer) was pretty tongue-in-cheek about it,” Hammond said. “It was obviously a bit of a joke within the department because they refer to him as the ‘Beanie Baby Burglar.’”
 Hammond said her neighbor saw an individual sit in front of the store for several minutes before apparently deciding to break in. It currently is not clear if the burglary was planned in any way or if it was decision made that night.
 “It was so quiet Monday night maybe he thought he could get away with it,” Hammond said. 
 While she has yet to speak to Borgognoni herself but would like to talk to him to get a better understanding of what allegedly happened and why.
 “I kinda feel bad for him,” Hammond said. “I would have cut him a deal on the Beanie Babies.”