Prosecutors: Man cooked steak as he trashed Jake's Roundabout Steakhouse during burglary

SHEBOYGAN COUNTY -- A Sheboygan man, 24, is facing charges in connection with a burglary that badly damaged Jake's Roundabout Steakhouse in Sheboygan. The restaurant reopened on Wednesday, July 18.

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Bobby Lee faces one count of burglary of a building or dwelling and one count of criminal damage to property. Prosecutors say during the crime, he cooked himself a steak and ate it while sitting on top of the bar.



He made his initial appearance in court on Tuesday, July 17. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for July 25, and cash bond was set at $10,000.

Bobby Lee

Police responded to the restaurant around 9:30 a.m. on July 14. The owner said he came to the business at that time, and discovered a window on the door had been shattered, and it appeared as if someone entered, vandalized and stole from the restaurant. The owner reported a large quantity of oil in the kitchen that had been spilled on the floor. He then left, not knowing whether the suspect was still inside.

The building was cleared by police officers, and the suspect wasn't found.

Surveillance video showed the suspect -- who appeared to be a male, black, with long, mid-back length dreadlocks. The video showed he entered through the basement, touching several bottles behind the bar before putting them into a trash can. He then spent approximately 45 minutes in the basement before going into the kitchen area, putting on gloves and arming himself with a kitchen knife. He then went upstairs and turned off the surveillance video system.

A criminal complaint says the video showed the suspect appeared to be aware that there were cameras in the basement -- using his shirt to conceal his face.

Police said the suspect "caused thousands of dollars worth of damage to the business" while committing this crime.



Jake's Roundabout Steakhouse officials shared surveillance photos of the suspect and pictures of the damage on social media.







The complaint details the damage, which included several gallons of oil spilled on the kitchen floor "for no apparent reason," and a large amount of bar glassware broken behind the counter. One of the cash registers was destroyed, possibly with a hammer -- which was discovered at the scene. Additionally, four gaming machines were destroyed off of the upstairs bar area -- beaten near where the cash drawer would be. The contents were pulled out and removed. A wall-mounted juke box was also destroyed and money was taken from it. A dart machine in the basement suffered several strikes from a hammer but entry wasn't made. A gaming console upstairs had minor damage to the plastic surrounding the coin deposit slot. In the bar area, a bottle was propped behind several of the taps to keep them open so beer would run out of the kegerators in the abasement. The meat freezers were opened and left open, allowing the meat to begin thawing.

Prosecutors say a citizen called police on July 15 with a tip -- indicating she'd seen the surveillance photos posted by Jake's Roundabout Steakhouse officials. She said she was "100 percent sure" the suspect was Bobby Lee, telling investigators she "immediately recognized him" in the photos. She said she was with Lee on July 13 and 14, and recognized the clothing he was wearing in the photos. She said she gave Lee a ride to Plymouth from Grafton on the evening of July 13. She said she later picked Lee up and they went to her home in Glenbeulah, and then to a bar in Sheboygan. Early on July 14, she said she gave Lee a ride to a truck stop in Sheboygan, where he was planning to stay with a friend, but was unable to, so he asked her to take him back to Plymouth. She said at one point, Lee "started acting strangely and said he couldn't go back to Plymouth" -- jumping out of the vehicle and running towards Jake's Roundabout Steakhouse. She said she was "sick of dealing with him" so she let him go. The next morning, July 14, she said she got a text from Lee, asking for a ride back to Grafton.

The complaint says a search warrant was executed on Lee's home on July 15, and shoes matching the footwear impression found at the scene of the burglary were found there.