An Illinois man has been charged with first degree murder after allegedly shooting a man he didn’t know multiple times over a pizza and bar tab.
The DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office said the shooting took place at about 8:40 a.m. at Rosie O’Reilly’s in unincorporated Wheaton, a western suburb of Chicago.
The sheriff’s department said Michael Freund, Dexter Perkins, and two other men got into a fight over the tab, the station said. The argument turned physical and spilled on the restaurant’s outdoor porch, where Freund pulled a gun and fired two warning shots into the air.
Perkins, who was not armed, reportedly approached one of the other men, and Freund then shot him multiple times in the face and torso. The state’s attorney said he fired 11 shots, then put the 9mm Glock handgun in the center console of his truck, where responding police officers found it.
“Yesterday morning, Dexter Perkins lost his life allegedly over a dispute regarding pizza and a bar tab,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Bob Berlin said in a news release. “For this senseless act of violence that resulted in the death of an innocent man, Mr. Freund now finds himself facing first degree murder charges. I offer my sincere condolences to Dexter’s family and friends and wish them strength as they are now forced to continue their lives without the love and friendship they enjoyed with Dexter.”
Investigators have not provided any detail about the fight over the bar tab and pizza at what is normally breakfast time but said the Perkins did not know Freund or the other two men involved.
The bar owner, John Dwyer, told WBBM that Perkins was a regular customer and that the other three men had never been to Rosie O’Reilly’s before. He said the “questionable argument” appeared to be about leftover pizza.
WGN reported that Perkins was the beloved father of two young girls. Friends were shocked and launched a GoFundMe for the family of the man they called the “‘glue’ to our group of friends.”
Freund was ordered held without bond at least until his arraignment, set for January 18, 2024.
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[Featured image: Michael Freund/DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office and Dexter Perkins/GoFundMe]
