Police: Premium Liquor Heists at Sendik's End in Arrests

A double shot of premium liquor thefts from Sendik's ended in arrest for two men from Brookfield and Milwaukee, police say.

The men stole four liquor bottles there Tuesday and then returned 48 hours later, when the Brookfield man fled unsuccessfully with shoplifted premium whiskey and bourbon, according to Wauwatosa police reports.

The 37-year-old Brookfield man was just weeks away from completing a deferred prosecution agreement on a felony narcotics drug case and having a judge dismiss the case without a conviction, state online court records show.

According to Wauwatosa police reports:

Employees at Sendik's, 8616 W. North Ave. in Wauwatosa, recognized two men inside the store about 7:20 p.m. Thursday as the same men who 48 hours earlier had stolen liquor there.

They watched the men and stopped them at the door.

The Milwaukee man pulled out his pockets to show he had nothing, police reports said, then pointed at the Brookfield man and said, "He has something."

The Brookfield man took off running through the parking lot and was collared about 200 feet down the sidewalk. He handed over a bottle of Knob Creek bourbon ($32.99 retail) and said, "Just take it and let me go." But he was taken back to the store, where he turned over a bottle of Johnny Walker Black whiskey ($34.99) as well, reports said.

The Milwaukee man was taken into custody in a back yard in the 2300 block of North 86th Street, and a Sendik's clerk later identified him in a photo lineup as the man involved in the Tuesday theft.

Both were arrested and referred to the Milwaukee County District Attorney's office for state theft charges. 

The Brookfield man pleaded guilty in May to a felony narcotics charge, online court records say. But the conviction was withheld under a deferred prosecution agreement that called for the case to be dismissed in November if he complied with the terms of the agreement.