A Pleasant Prairie man is accused of doing something very dumb. Police and prosecutors say that 27-year-old Damarroe La-Von Roy broke into City Hall on August 29, 2024 to charge his cell phone. It was during the popular Peanut Butter and Jam concert, so there were many witnesses. He was charged the next day with disorderly conduct and criminal damage to property.

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Many people, including KCE thought that some type of felony would apply, but Assistant District Attorney Daniel Tombasco tells KCE that the dollar amount of damage was below $2,500 so he can’t be charged with a felony. One lawyer KCE spoke with said that technically, Moreland could have been charged with burglary. The element that seems to me missing here is “The defendant entered the building with intent to steal.” The argument could be made that Moreland intended to steal the electricity from the taxpayers. It does seem creative, but may not hold up with a jury.

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According to the criminal complaint:

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At approximately 5:16 p.m., KPD responded to a burglary call at the Kenosha Municipal Building, which is located at 625 52nd St. While the police officer was approaching the municipal building, he was flagged down by an individual who pointed at the building and began running towards the east side of the building. The officer followed this person and discovered that the southeast glass door of the municipal building was heavily damaged. Multiple people from the public who were present at a public event advised that someone had kicked the door to damage it and that this subject was still inside of the municipal building. The suspect was subsequently identified as Demarrow Moreland.

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A city maintenance worker, who indicated that the approximate cost of fixing the door damaged by Moreland would be $1,000 if only the glass needed to be replaced. If, however, the door itself needed to be replaced, the damage would cost approximately $3,000-4,000. It was later determined that the door cost $656 to replace.

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A custodian, who was working inside the municipal building at the time of the incident explained that he observed a black male matching Moreland’s description sitting in a chair outside of the courtroom charging his phone. He did not think much of it because it appeared that Moreland was charging his phone near a plug outlet, which was common. However, at approximately 5:20 p.m., he walked out of the janitor closet and saw Moreland standing outside the southern door near the courtroom that were now locked. He witnessed Moreland kick a hole in the window, which allowed him to crawl through the hole in the glass whereupon he started walking toward the area where he was seated earlier in the day.

According to the custodian, Moreland said that he needed his box and that he was upset because the doors were locked on him. City staff did not give anyone permission to kick or damage the glass door and the City wished to make a complaint regarding the damage.

A different officer reported that when Moreland was captured, she asked him whether he entered a nearby building when he shouldn’t have. Moreland admitted that he had and explained that he entered the municipal building initially to charge his phone, but when he exited the building, he left his box containing a PlayStation and some games inside the building. According to Moreland, when he attempted to open the doors to the building, they were locked so he broke one of the building’s windows to gain access to the building so he could retrieve his box before leaving the area on foot.

Moreland was given a no-cash bail, but he likely isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, other than the Kenosha County Jail. Moreland is on extended supervision.

On January 15, 2018, Moreland pleaded guilty to one felony count of Armed Robbery With Threat of Force and one felony count of Robbery With Threat of Force. He was sentenced to seven years in prison followed by seven years of extended supervision. In February of 2023, Moreland was released from prison put is on supervision until 2030. He is currently on a parole hold.

According to the Milwaukee County criminal complaint, Moreland committed an armed home invasion in Milwaukee on November 17, 2015. A man heard a knock at his door and opened it. Moreland and another man beat and strangled the man for 40 minutes. The man suffered from broken ribs, a punctured lung, and contusions on his face. Moreland and his co-defendant stole items from the home and left. Moreland confessed, but a liberal judge and prosecutor made a deal for only seven years in prison, even though he faced 70 years.

Moreland faces 9 months in jail as the maximum possible penalty.