Crime & Safety

Daytime Burglary Unnerves East Towne Couple; Attempt Made at ALS Office

To their loss, couple's side door gives way to booted foot, but disease charity's door stands up against burglar's pry bar.

About 3:45 p.m. Thursday, a couple living in the 2600 block of North 71st Street reported that someone had broken into their home.

The woman said she and her husband had both left at about 8:30 a.m. and she had come home to find the door to her detached garage open.

She said she assumed her husband had forgotten to shut it. But walking toward the house, she saw that her side door had been kicked in. She called her husband, who called police while she waited at a neighbor’s house.

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Officers with police dog Addy cleared the home before calling the couple in to check for missing property.

They found they were missing a 55-inch flat-screen television, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, an iPod and two extra car keys.

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Police found the side door deadbolt still locked – but splintered entirely out of the frame by brute force. They said there was a boot print on the door panel.

Officers conducted a neighborhood canvass, but no one reported having noticed any suspicious activity near the home.

No honor among these thieves

We've reported break-ins at churches and thefts from cemeteries, and this is in that vein.

On Friday morning, the office manager of the ALS Association Wisconsin Chapter, 3333 North Mayfair Rd., reported that overnight someone had tried to break in to the office.

Police found the marks of a pry bar used on the wooden door and metal frame, but the lock did not give way.

ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a debilitating and ultimately fatal condition, and the Association is a non-profit charity dedicated to seeking a cure.


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