Beseiged Liquor Store Door Staves Off Burglar This Time

A would-be burglar attempted to break in to a Wauwatosa liquor store Friday for what would be the third time the business has been hit in a month. Police are fairly certain the same man is responsible for at least two most recent incidents.

At 12:20 a.m. Friday, a broken glass alarm sounded at Breeze Thru Liquor, 11104 W. Blue Mound Rd., and surveillance video viewed later showed a man in a hooded sweatshirt trying to smash the front door.

When police arrived shortly after the alarm sounded, they found scuffs and scratches on the unbroken door, thought to be from a rock. Several more officers were summoned to search the area, but the suspect was not found.

Video showed a man who appeared to be in his mid-20s, 5-feet-10-inches- to 6-feet tall and weighing 180 to 200 pounds, with light-colored hair, wearing blue jeans and a black hooded sweatshirt. He approached the store carrying a large rock, struck the door once, kicked it, then ran away.

He appeared to be the same man who had successfully burglarized the business on June 25, when police answered an alarm to find that someone had smashed the glass front door, gotten in to the store and had already made his escape.

Video footage showed a man repeatedly throwing a rock at the window at 10:11 p.m., apparently without setting off alarms. He left briefly, then returned at 10:26 and kicked in the glass and entered the store.

He stole eight cartons of cigarettes, 120 lottery tickets and 23 quarters from the cash drawer.

The store also had been burglarized in the much the same way on June 9, only that time the tool was a hammer and the target was cheap wine.

At 10:17 that night, a man smashed the glass door and stole four bottles of fruit-flavored white Zinfandel worth $27.96. Video footage showed a man wearing a hockey mask and a hooded sweatshirt using a hammer to break the glass.