George Raymond Kortte, 77, Sleepy Eye, was charged with felony 2nd and 3rd-degree burglary and misdemeanor theft Feb. 15,
According to court documents, Sleepy Eye Police Officer Elliott Waterbury took a Jan. 13 phone call from a man who said he thought someone was in his apartment while he was away at work. The man said he noticed things missing from his apartment after coming home from work.
Later, officer Peter McGarry got a call from the man who said he checked with his neighbor who had video footage of a person coming up stairs towards his apartment and identified the suspects as Cheryl Rose Mussehl and Kortte.
The man said he thought his front door was damaged from the couple trying to enter his apartment including damage to a door knob, door frame trim and a door dent.
Video showed a woman, officer Waterbury recognized from other contacts, walking down stairs with items in her hands.
Officer Waterbury tried to contact a male suspect at his Sleepy Eye apartment when a female walked by and said Kortte and Mussehl were not home. The female gave officer Waterbury a phone number and said she recently used it to talk to the male suspect.
Officer Waterbury called the number and talked to a man who said he didn’t know where Mussehl was and refused to give out her phone number. Officer Waterbury said he wanted to talk to Kortte and Mussehl about them going into her old apartment without permission and taking items. The man said the items belonged to Mussehl.
Officer Waterbury said the couple didn’t have to talk to him but he was going to write a report and send it off for burglary charges.
The next day, Officer Waterbury learned from a day shift officer that the Kortte and Mussehl called about the incident and said they didn’t know anything about it.
The same charges were filed against Mussehl Feb. 8. A remote Zoom hearing for Mussehl and Kortte was set for 8:30 a.m. March 5.
