No Goodwill in This Gal, and Precious Little Sense

A Milwaukee woman made a pretty nice little heist from a casual chic clothing chain in Brookfield that could have put her nicely in pocket.

But then she decided to cap her day by stealing a few more items worth a pittance from a Wauwatosa store for the poor.

That landed her in warm water in both cities.

At 2:16 p.m. Tuesday, the 55-year-old woman was arrested for theft at the Goodwill Industries store, 12121 W. Feerick St., after she left the store without paying for four articles of clothing.

An employee saw her bag the clothes and walk out, so he followed her outside and asked her to stop. She threw the bag at him, he said, and took off running.

He gave chase, pursuing her across North 124th Street and in and out among several buildings until two police squads arrived and cut her off, arresting her without incident.

Goodwill recovered its $16 worth of used clothing – a $7 jacket, and a shirt, a skirt and a pair of shoes each worth $3 – and the woman was taken to the station for booking, and presumably a ticket and release.

But as the second officer on the scene was driving back alone, he realized the woman's purse had ended up in his car instead of with the officer who had made the arrest – and the purse hadn't yet been searched.

He turned it over as soon as he arrived, and inside her large purse were four smaller ones, all brand new and with the T.J. Maxx tags still attached, with a retail value of $750 together.

The woman admitted she had stolen them from the nearby T.J. Maxx store at 124th and West Capitol Drive and then went to Goodwill to steal some clothes for herself – presumably meaning she meant to sell the pilfered purses for cash.

She was cited by for the theft from Goodwill and held for Brookfield police, who arrived and took her into custody for the T.J. Maxx theft.