Habitual Shoplifter Lands in Jail After This Arrest

A 44-year-old Milwaukee woman already on probation for theft, with two more cases pending and a record long enough to label her a habitual criminal, landed in jail likely to face new charges after another arrest at a Wauwatosa drug store.

Wauwatosa police expected to forward her case Friday to the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office seeking charges of theft and bail jumping, with an enhancer as a repeat offender.

According to police reports:

At 3:10 p.m. Thursday, the woman was arrested at CVS Pharmacy, 7520 Blue Mound Rd., after she tried to leave the store with $55.95 worth of merchandise hidden in her purse.

She fought furiously with a security guard for nearly two minutes before he was able to restrain and hold her for police, drawing a crowd of shocked customers.

It's no wonder she didn't want to be arrested. She was on probation for a theft she pleaded guilty to in February, has two more cases pending in court for arrests since then, and eight more arrests on her record.

She was sent to the County Jail and could be looking at fulfilling the six months' jail time that was imposed and then stayed on her February conviction, plus up to nine months more on the new theft charge.

Meanwhile, this won't look good when she goes to court on her pending cases.

Her 5-year-old daughter, who was waiting in a car with an adult friend, was referred to the office of Child Welfare and later released to the custody of her grandmother, who said she had also had to raise her daughter’s other two children.

For all that trouble, what did she hope to get?

The woman had tried to pilfer some cheap nail care products and a couple pairs of children's slippers.