Crime & Safety

No Charges for Man Who Fired Gun in Tosa Burglary Chase

District Attorney's Office finds Milwaukee man's reactions to intrusion by teenager fleeing Wauwatosa police were reasonable.

No charges will be filed against a Milwaukee man who fired several gunshots when a fleeing burglary suspect ran into his back yard, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported late Tuesday.

The 45-year-old man acted appropriately, the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office found, firing into the air and not at the suspect and exercising self-defense when he thought the intruder was reaching for a gun, according to the newspaper report.

The man was arrested Sunday night after an 18-year-old man being chased by Wauwatosa police in a burglary investigation entered his yard while he was entertaining guests at his home in the 1600 block of North 59th Street.

The initial report from Milwaukee police said the homeowner fired several rounds at the man in his back yard and then chased him down the street, still firing.

But a deputy district attorney told the Journal Sentinel the man had pursued the burglary suspect only to the border of his own property.


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