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Alleged Burglar Tells Police Sledgehammer Was For His Job - At Burger King

By Mark Schipper | July 4, 2015 8:38am | Updated on July 6, 2015 8:54am
 Ross Orpheus, 32, is charged with felony attempted burglary and misdemeanor aggravated use of a deadly weapon, police said.
Ross Orpheus, 32, is charged with felony attempted burglary and misdemeanor aggravated use of a deadly weapon, police said.
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CPD

CHICAGO — A man accused of attempted burglary told North Side police officers he was toting a modified sledgehammer and burglary tools because of his job — as a cashier at Burger King, according to a police report.

Ross Orpheous, 32, of downstate Bloomington, was charged with felony attempted burglary and misdemeanor aggravated use of a deadly weapon, police said.

Mark Weitekamper, 50, the victim of the attempted burglary, was at home in the 5700 block of North Rockwell Avenue just before 11 p.m. on June 27 when he heard his kitchen window sliding open, he said.

"Well, that's a weird noise at that time of night," said Weitekamper, who said his windows were partially open to keep a cool breeze coming in on a hot summer night .

"So I walk into the kitchen and there he is, looking in the window. He knew the instant I saw him, we made eye contact, he knew he was caught and he wanted to get lost."

Weitekamper ducked outside to confront the man on the concrete gangway. He saw him jump down from the patio chair he'd dragged to the window and head toward the gated entrance.

"He scurried toward the gate and then started fiddling with the gate," said Weitekamper. "And as he was fiddling with the gate, trying to get out, he said, 'You don't want to come near me, I have a pistol.'"

Weitekamper stopped and watched him, not certain what to do, but instead of pulling out a handgun, the burglar passed through the gate and headed north up Rockwell Street, Weitekamper said. A patio chair dragged into the gangway and set beneath the kitchen window was left behind when Orpheous fled, according to police. 

Weitekamper, on the phone with 911 emergency from the sidewalk, watched Orpheous move slowly up Rockwell Street, casually working in and out of the gangways. 

"Low and behold he's going down the block, going into people's gangways, probably trying to do the same thing, and, you know, he kind of knew I was there watching him. He was being blatant about it," said Weitekamper.

Then police arrived on the scene.

"I said, don't waste your time here talking to me, he's right up there, go get him! And they said, 'Ok!" and sped off."

Officers stopped Orpheous in an alleyway several blocks north of the burglary attempt and found he was carrying burglary tools, including a nine-pound sledgehammer with a modified, ultra-short nine-inch handle that allowed him to tuck it inside a pocket, according to police.

When officers asked why he was carrying those items, Orpheous said they were for work, according to police.

Then they asked him where he worked, to which he replied, a cashier at Burger King, according to the report.

Police escorted Orpheous back to the attempted burglary scene, where Weitekamper identified him as the same person he’d seen lurking at his kitchen window.

"I thought it was over already," said Weitekamper. "I'd gone back inside, locked everything up, and as soon as I went to bed there was a knock on the door and it was the police. After I identified him they wanted to know if I was interested in following through on the charges.

I said, 'Sure, if I don't he'll just get out again and be on the street.'"

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