Loaded .45, Ammo Stolen in Another Home Burglary

A .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol with a loaded magazine and 50 extra rounds was among property taken in a home burglary, the second time in a week and third in 2½ months in which a weapon or weapons was taken in a Wauwatosa home break-in.

This time, though, just the one gun was stolen – five and then 10, respectively, were lost in the prior crimes – and this pistol was relatively well hidden, compared to the earlier incidents when large numbers of firearms were left out in the open.

At 11:03 a.m., a resident of the 2600 block of North 65th Street called police after discovering the home she shares with her ex-husband had been broken into. She said she had gone to a doctor's appointment at 9 a.m. and returned at 11, unlocked her front door and instantly saw that her TV was gone from the living room.

She quickly checked her work bag, she said, and saw that her company laptop computer was missing, too. That was when she called police.

Officers went through the home with her and determined that someone had come in through a kitchen window on the west side of the house. The woman noticed that her personal laptop was also missing.

When her ex-husband arrived from work, he noted to officers that the garbage and recycling carts had been moved and that one had a large, new dent in the top and the other had been wiped free of dust. The carts were on the south side of the house, making it likely the burglar or burglars had climbed on them to try other windows first.

Both residents acknowledged they had left the kitchen window open a few inches and that the screen had been pulled to the side while they were out.

The man of the house went room to room with officers and discovered that his Colt .45 was gone, missing from between his mattress and box spring, and that a bag containing 50 rounds of ammo for it was gone from his bedside table.

He was able to immediately provide the serial number of the gun, which was entered into the National Crime Information Center database.

His ex-wife would call police two days later to report that she was also missing an iPod, a Green Bay Packers duffel bag, a hand-held vacuum cleaner and a backpack.

Police were able to lift fingerprints and possible DNA from surfaces in the home.

On May 3, Wauwatosa police investigated a home burglary in which .

On Feb. 18, officers were called to a Wauwatosa home from which five firearms had been stolen – four semi-automatic handguns and a 5.56mm semi-automatic assault-style rifle with several 30-round magazines.