RACINE ⏤ Pieces of flesh and blood in a broken window led to the Racine County District Attorney’s office to file burglary and misdemeanor theft charges against a 47-year-old man.
Robert D. Petty Jr., whose address was listed as Minneapolis, was being held in the Racine County Jail as of Wednesday.
He faces charges of burglary of a building or dwelling and two counts of misdemeanor theft. The charges carry a repeat offender enhancement penalty.
Criminal complaint
According to the criminal complaint, residents of a home on Beechwood Court in Wind Point called police to report an interrupted burglary the evening of August 17, 2018.
The residents told police that they had been away for a little less than two hours. After they had returned home, they heard noises that sounded like someone moving around on the second floor.
While one resident called police, the other walked upstairs and heard the sound of a breaking window and discovered two pillow cases in the hallway. The resident found the pillow cases to contain the residents’ belongings, including papers, coins, currency and other items.
Disarray, window smashed
The resident then discovered that the home’s master bedroom was in disarray. They also discovered that someone had smashed out a window leading to the roof. A wallet, purse and tablet belonging to the residents were missing.
Police later recovered those items during a search of the home’s yard.
Petty had entered the residence by removing two lower window screens at the back of the home, police determined.
Investigators also found two pieces of human flesh on the lower track of the master bedroom window. They, too, found blood on broken glass and the home’s roof. Officers took the flesh and blood swabs into evidence.
Flesh and blood swabs lead to Petty
Police sent the flesh and blood swabs to the Wisconsin State Crime Laboratory for testing. In August 2019, police received lab results indicating that the DNA profile obtained from the blood swabs matched the DNA of Petty.
Petty was on community supervision at the time of the break-in.
According to online court records, the court issued a warrant for Petty’s arrest on Sept. 6, 2019. The records don’t indicate when or where police apprehended Petty.
Initial appearance
Petty made an initial appearance in Racine County Circuit Court on the charges Wednesday.
During that appearance, the court set his cash bond at $1,000.
Petty will next appear in court for a preliminary hearing on Dec. 23.
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