'Steady trail of macaroni salad' leads to burglary arrests

MOUNT MORRIS, NY (KTRK) -- Authorities say a trail of macaroni salad leading away from a western New York restaurant helped police track down three burglary suspects.

The Livingston County Sheriff's Office says it got a call over the weekend from the owners of a Build-A-Burger restaurant. The owners told deputies that their surveillance system and cash register had been stolen early Sunday morning.

"A lot of stuff was gone, security cameras, cash register too, and the place was vandalized," owner Debbie Hill told ABC affiliate WHAM-TV.

Deputies checked out a nearby hiking and biking path, where they found cash register parts, surveillance system parts, rubber gloves, loose change and "a steady trail of macaroni salad."

Deputies say they later learned that three men had stolen a large bowl of macaroni salad, which they took turns eating along their escape route.

"Obviously it must be good if they took the whole ten pounds of it," Hill said.

The suspects were in custody by Sunday early afternoon. Matthew P. Sapetko, 34, James P. Marullo, 35, and Timothy S. Walker Jr., 23, are all charged with burglary, criminal mischief and grand larceny.

Most of the stolen property was recovered in one of the suspect's homes.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.