Man accused of breaking into Paducah pizza restaurant 9 times turns himself in

PADUCAH, Ky. (KBSI) – A Paducah man who was wanted on burglary, criminal mischief and drug charges has been arrested.

Corey J. Perez, 29, of Madison Street, turned himself in to police and was arrested just after 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 8.

Perez is charged in warrants with nine counts of third-degree burglary, and one count each of first-degree criminal mischief, possession of burglary tools, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

He is accused of breaking into several businesses inside the old Coca Cola plant at 3121 Broadway.

Perez is a former employee of Mellow Mushroom and is charged with breaking into the restaurant eight times. The first time was the day after his employment was terminated, according to the Paducah Police Department.

Paducah police were called on Feb. 1 after the general manager of Mellow Mushroom determined someone had broken into the business the previous two nights.

Detectives reviewed surveillance video and located additional break-ins.

The man on the surveillance video was identified as Perez.

Detectives concluded that Perez also broke into Hush Art, located above Mellow Mushroom, in November 2022. Camera equipment and other items were taken, according to police.

Detectives say Perez also broke into Sprocket inside the same building on Feb. 2 and turned on a water faucet that flooded the business and caused more than $10,000 in damage.

Detectives served a search warrant at Perez’s home on Madison Street on Friday, Feb. 3.

They found two of the items taken in the Hush Art burglary, along with marijuana and drug paraphernalia, according to the police department.

Perez was arrested and booked into the McCracken County Regional Jail.