Staff report

He lacked the stealth of, say, the Hamburglar, the McDonald’s fantasy character used in the restaurant chain’s marketing campaigns between 1971 and 2015.

Nor did he flee the scene with sandwiches pilfered from Ronald McDonald in his grasp, as the Hamburglar was inclined to do.

Instead, this suspect may have left something behind him: broken windows. And something more — his true name and phone number, which led police to his door.

Groves police say Joseph Christopher Roberts, 31, stands accused of shattering five windows in the dark of night at McDonald’s, 4500 Twin City Highway, on July 4 after a confrontation there with an employee over a botched food order. Police say the windows were valued at $3,629.62.

The Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office said Roberts, of 3747 28^th St., Port Arthur, was indicted Wednesday on a felony criminal mischief charge, which is a state jail felony.

In a probable cause affidavit revealed Wednesday, authorities said Roberts used the drive-through lane and windows and advanced to the second window after ordering, where he was involved in a loud conversation with an employee. The affidavit said Roberts became irate over a mistake in the order, cursed at the employee and parked his blue Dodge Charger to the side. The affidavit said police believe Roberts then called the McDonald’s national complaint line and left his name and phone number, which were later traced to Roberts.

In the affidavit, Groves Detective Chris Robin said he used a series of segmented videos that showed a man standing at the windows on the restaurant’s west side, holding a long, black object. He said he heard a series of loud noises and saw the same man on video at the fifth window.

Based on the series of videos, Robin said, he believes the same suspect broke all the windows. He also compared a photo of Roberts to the video. The employee at the second window also identified Roberts as the man who cursed at him.

A spokesman for the District Attorney’s Office said the case would be assigned to an assistant district attorney and set for a court date.