Crime & Safety

Cops Say Man is Suspect in 25 Wauwatosa Burglaries

Tosa man arrested in Menomonee Falls this week may be behind recent rash of break-ins at businesses and homes.

A Wauwatosa man arrested and charged in two burglaries in Menomonee Falls is also a suspect in 25 more break-ins at businesses and homes in Tosa over just a three-week span.

The Wauwatosa Village and East Town on West Avenue business districts had been reeling with what seemed a major crime wave since mid-July, climaxing on Aug. 2, when eight businesses being hit overnight.

Scott M. Laskowski, 32, of 7257 W. North Ave. in Wauwatosa, in the act of breaking in to the Rincon Mexicano restaurant in Menomonee Falls, authorities say.

Evidence found in his home implicated him in another burglary there, and Wauwatosa police were already considering Laskowski a likely suspect in several burglaries.

But members of the Wauwatosa Police Detective Bureau had been compiling evidence on similar break-ins that had occurred in Tosa since July 13, and now say Laskowski can be considered a suspect in 25 such crimes.

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A Wauwatosa police spokesman said Laskowski had not made a statement implicating himself in any of the Tosa burglaries, but detectives had enough evidence linking him to at least a few of the crimes to bring charges.

In many of the incidents, Laskowski is suspected simply because of the proximity and similarity of the crimes. Of the eight burglary attempts reported on Aug. 2, seven occurred in a five-block stretch of West North Avenue in the 8400 through 8800 blocks.

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All were similar in nature, with rear doors being pried open or window air conditioning units pried out. Also, only cash drawers were targeted; goods were left alone.

July 20 was another active night for burglary in Wauwatosa, with five incidents reported. On that date, three homes and two businesses were broken in to, also in the Village and East Town districts.

Police on the point

Interestingly, on July 13, Wauwatosa Police Capt. Jeff Sutter sat down for an interview with Patch to talk about crime trends in the city. Statistics from Jan. 1 through July 4 showed that burglaries were down 50 percent from the same period in 2010.

But Sutter cautioned against making too much of statistics or of assuming trends from a six-month window of crime reports.

"Burglary is a perfect example," Sutter said. "When we get burglaries, we get them in rashes, and many are done by the same subjects — maybe 30 by the same people before they get caught or move on."

A burglary that very day was the first among a string that would lead detectives to start a spreadsheet of similar incidents. That spreadsheet, showing dates, locations, methods of entry and property lost, would point them toward Laskowski as a possible perpetrator of this particular rash of crimes.

See this interactive map for information on the burglaries.


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