When police responded to a "fight" in Holuba Hall yesterday, they didn't expect to find the man who called them to have caused $5,000 worth of damage to the Lasch Building on his 21st birthday.

After Penn State Police took Daniel Costenbader (junior-electrical engineering) into custody, police say he admitted to making the false fight report -- and to causing the damage to the building -- all while wearing a stolen football helmet.

Before he called police at 3:15 a.m., an intoxicated Costenbader chased tackling dummies in the practice field, damaged property in the Lasch Building wearing a Penn State football helmet and picked up the Alamo Bowl trophy and various equipment, according to court documents.

Costenbader was charged yesterday with burglary, criminal trespass, criminal mischief, theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property and public drunkenness, according to court documents. He was arraigned before Magisterial District Justice Carmine Prestia and released on $50,000 unsecured bail.

The football team trains and lifts at the Lasch Building; it also houses the offices of coaches such as Joe Paterno, Jay Paterno and Tom Bradley.

In his statement to police, Costenbader said he began his birthday celebration by drinking at his friend's University Terrace apartment, then at the Phyrst and Bill Pickle's, where he consumed several shots and pitchers of beer. Police recorded Costenbader's blood-alcohol content as .18 at the time of his arrest, according to court documents.

Costenbader told police he left the bars and began to jog to his Toftrees apartment -- about four miles away -- but diverted to jump the fence onto the football practice field, according to court documents.

Once on the field, Costenbader stripped to his boxer shorts and hit tackling dummies, then headed toward the Lasch Building when he saw an open gate, according to court documents.

Police said Costenbader told them he remembered being inside the weight room and locker room in the Lasch Building, as well as breaking a double-paned window and picking up a replica of the Alamo Bowl trophy -- valued at $2,000.

He had retreated to the women's bathroom -- still wearing a Penn State football helmet -- when police arrived, according to court documents.

Police investigation revealed Costenbader damaged two doors on the building's east entrance, a window leading to the training room, a Dell computer, desk, a dumbbell and a training office window that he had thrown weights against, according to court documents. He also allegedly damaged two tables and two trampolines in the training room and a window in the south entrance, police said.

Costenbader's theft charges stem from his attempt to remove various items in a stolen equipment bag, which held Nike cleats, valued at $125, and eight Nike footballs, valued at $50 each, according to court documents. The bag, along with a set of football pads, was found lying near the building's south side when police arrived.

Penn State Police Lt. Bill Moerschbacher said the Lasch Building had never seen such an incident, adding this case wasn't a typical break-in.

"Just to go in and do that -- just to trash the place -- is pretty rare," he said.

The Lasch Building has surveillance and police are still trying to see if they can recover any footage of Costenbader, Moerschbacher said.

When asked about the incident at the Big Ten media day in Chicago yesterday, Joe Paterno said his wife, Sue, informed him about the break-in.

"My wife was all upset, because the windows were broken. I guess there's a sizable amount of damage," Paterno said. "It's unfortunate. It's so unnecessary."

Penn State's Football Communications and Branding Director Guido D'Elia said he didn't know the details but was surprised to hear about the break-in.

"It sounds absolutely hideous," he said.

-- The Associated Press contributed to this report.