Crime & Safety

Another Citizen Takes Matters Into His Own Hands

Wauwatosa resident drives 25 blocks to get his stolen bike back from kid who took it while his back was briefly turned.

On Tuesday, we reported on a Milwaukee man living on the very border who witnessed a crime in Wauwatosa last Wednesday and .

It wasn't the only such recent incident – in fact, a Wauwatosa resident echoed that emotion the very same day.

A man living in the 3100 block of North 106th Street took matters into his own hands when he discovered his bicycle had just been stolen.

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He said he had been working in his garage with the overhead door open at about 7:15 p.m. when he went to his basement for no more than a minute and returned to find a strange bicycle abandoned on his lawn next to the garage.

He looked inside to find his bike missing, then spoke to a neighbor who said he had just seen two teenagers riding away on bicycles.

Find out what's happening in Wauwatosawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The owner got in his pickup truck and went searching for them, heading east on West Burleigh Street on a hunch. He drove for 25 blocks before he spotted the two boys, one of them on his bike, at North 81st Street, pulled up next to them and demanded his bike back.

At first, the boy on his bike claimed it was his, but after the man told them he would not call police if he returned the bike, the boy gave it back. The owner said he waited about an hour, then thought better of his promise and reported the crime.

He described both boys as being black, 14 to 16 years old, about 5 feet tall, weight about 125 pounds with short hair, one wearing a blue running jacket and the other a red hoodie.


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