Man Pleads Guilty to Wheaton Library Break-in

A man charged with damaging the Wheaton Public Library has pleaded guilty. Erik Oppenhagen was arrested in late August after he broke a window to enter the library to retrieve a bag, police said at the time.

He pleaded guilty on Oct. 26 to one count of criminal damage to state-supported property. He was given 180 days in DuPage County Jail and placed on two years of probation. He will also have to pay $604 in restitution to the library, as well as $607 in court costs. Oppenhagen was also ordered to stay away from the library, records state. Oppenhagen reportedly told police he had been drinking before using a rock to break a library window.

According to the police report Oppenhagen, 43, of the 700 block of Liberty Drive in Wheaton, left his bag in the library Friday after he got a call from a friend, who told him he had a bottle of vodka. He left the library to meet the friend, drank half the bottle of vodka at Vintage Rides and returned to the library around 6:20 p.m. to get his bag.

According to the report, a woman returning books at the library Friday evening said she saw Oppenhagen “angry and irate,” banging on the windows and shouting “let me in,” around 6 p.m.

Let Patch save you time. Get stories delivered to your inbox—sign up for our email newsletter. Fast signup here. You can also like us on Facebook.

She said Oppenhagen then grabbed a rock and walked around the side of the buidling and got a bike. As she left, she heard a loud noise and saw a shattered window next to the man's bike on the ground, police said.

A library employee also reported Oppenhagen after she saw him trying to get into the library after it closed.

When Oppenhagen got into the library through the broken window and realized police were outside, he used a tape dispenser to try and break another window to escape. When the tape dispenser was unsuccessful, Oppenhagen climbed through the window he broke, further cutting his leg after climbing in, and ran from police, according to the police report.

He ran to the intersection of Cross Street and Wesley Avenue, where police caught and arrested him. He was transferred to Central DuPage Hospital.

The cost of damage to the library windows was $1,500 to $2,000, police said.

Related:

• Man Charged in Break-in at Wheaton Public Library