Burglar confesses to break-in

WAUPACA – Her mother died four months ago and she and her family members were stopping by to clean out her two-story home on Ballard Street. This time was different. The door was unlocked and the house was very cold. A window was shattered. A burner on the stove was turned on and glowing red hot. Other things seemed out of place. It was Thursday morning, May 7, and she called the police.
Officer Batte arrived and cleared the house. Nobody was there. The daughter’s fiancé arrived with access to a motion-activated security camera mounted in the home’s entry and dining room area. This is what they saw:
The day before a man entered the home at 1:45 a.m. He walked through the house, picking things up and putting them back down. He took a pellet gun from the living room and two backpacks that he loaded with other items. Officer Batte captured photographs of the suspect’s face from the footage before the man exited from the camera’s view.
According to the criminal complaint, he was identified as Walter W. Tankersley III, 47, of Waupaca, a man local police knew from prior encounters.
Officer Batte left the Ballard Street house and there he was, Tankersley, standing in a driveway roughly 300 yards up on Willard Street. He got in his cruiser and drove over there.
Tankersley saw the squad vehicle—cops!—and he turned on his heel and walked towards a wooded area. Officer Batte did a U-turn and Tankersley took off.
Officer Batte contacted the homeowner of the driveway Tankersley was standing in. He showed her the burglary photos. She gave him permission to search her home but Tankersley wasn’t around.
Over the radio came a message: Tankersley had an active arrest warrant through Waupaca County for misdemeanor bail jumping.
Officers descended on the wooded area north of the Willard Street property. Captain Benzschawel launched a drone to scout from above and then Tankersley walked out of the woods and right up to Captain Benzschawel at Poehlman Park.
He apologized for fleeing, he said he ran because he knew there was an active warrant out for his arrest.
Officer Batte said there was something else they needed to talk about.
“That house down there,” said Tankersley. He said he knew the woman that used to live there. He admitted to breaking and entering and stealing some items.
Tankersley agreed to return the stolen goods which included: a pellet gun, two backpacks, a Blue-Ray Sherlock Holmes DVD, a glass mug, a glass jar, a rifle scope, a Melanie Mason CD, a karaoke cassette player, a flashlight, a metallic scale, orange glassware, a toothbrush and a tube of Crest toothpaste.
He was charged with one count of burglary of a building or dwelling, a Class F felony. He also faces one misdemeanor count of bail jumping, one misdemeanor count of theft, and one misdemeanor count of criminal damage to property.