Police: DeKalb man breaks into house, drinks paint

SYCAMORE – Police said a DeKalb man who broke into two Sycamore homes drank a blue acrylic paint at the second before being arrested.

Brian M. Burke, 26, of the 1500 block of Grand Drive, has been charged with two counts of residential burglary in connection with the incidents. The charges typically are punishable by four to 15 years in prison.

Police said in court records that they got a call from a homeowner about 3 a.m. Saturday in the 400 block of South California Street reporting a burglar was in the house. Sycamore Police Cmdr. Steve Cook said the residents yelled at Burke to get out, and they thought he was drunk.

Before officers arrived, Burke went to the house next door, whose resident called to report an intruder. Burke was found in that house, the records show.

Police said Burke stole a bottle of cranberry juice from the refrigerator in the first house, and that he took a bottle of blue acrylic paint and drank some while in the second house.

“It was on his face – around his lips, mouth and nose,” Cook said.

Cook said Burke also took a bottle of glue, and that it wasn’t clear why Burke drank the paint.

“I have no motive,” he said, adding that Burke didn’t need medical treatment.

He said the door jamb was broken on the house Burke first entered, but the second house’s entryway wasn’t damaged.

DeKalb County Judge Philip Montgomery ordered Saturday that Burke be released on his signature, but that he be barred any contact with the houses and the residents.

Burke is due back in court at 9 a.m. Jan. 11.