Police Report: Teenager Unknowingly Steals from Relative's Home

At 3:08 p.m. Tuesday, an 18-year-old Milwaukee man was arrested for burglary after he allegedly stole a washing machine from the basement of a four-flat apartment house in the 7300 block of West Center Street – an apartment house occupied by a relative of his, who recognized him and turned him in.

A resident of one of the apartments saw two men strapping the appliance into the trunk of a car parked in the back alley. She immediately recognized one of the men as her nephew’s brother, and she began to pound on her window and scream at him by name.

She said he looked up and saw her and then both men jumped into the car and drove off. The woman called police and told them she was “1,000 percent sure” of the suspect’s identity.

Police called him and he agreed to talk to them, but he denied any involvement. After interviewing the owner of the washing machine and examining the scene, police called him again and arrested him.

This time he made a full confession, that he was out “junkin’ metal” with an accomplice named “Money” when they stopped to pick up an air conditioning unit that was with the trash in the alley. He then noticed the back door of the apartment building was open, and he entered to see if there was anything of scrap value.

He said he never heard anyone yelling his name but that something had spooked his accomplice. He told police he had no idea that there was a woman living in the building who knew who he was.

He would not tell police anything about the identity of his accomplice. He said that they had sold the washing machine at a scrap yard for $10.

Thursday

At 10:05 a.m., a 16-year-old Wauwatosa East High School student reported that his school-issued iPad had been stolen out of his locked gym locker some time during the second hour.

Wednesday

At 2:30 p.m., the manager of Starbucks, 12345 W. Capitol Dr., reported that two women had passed a counterfeit $100 bill in the shop. The bill was a real $5 bill that had been bleached and reprinted to appear to be $100; the only obvious clue was that the bill still featured President Abraham Lincoln instead of Benjamin Franklin.

At 4:02 p.m., a 19-year-old Milwaukee woman was arrested for theft after she stole a $60 necklace from her employer, Macy’s at Mayfair Mall. The woman was seen putting the necklace in her pocket and punching out of her shift without paying for it. She admitted having taken another $521 worth of merchandise since she was hired Sept. 20.

Tuesday

At 9:45 p.m., a resident of the 2200 block of North 67th Street reported that some time since 5:30 p.m. someone had broken into his home. The man said he came home from bowling to find his front door standing open and his back door kicked in. He noticed that a chair had been moved into the front mudroom and realized that a burglar had used it to stand on to unscrew the light, which he always kept on. He called police, fearing intruders might still be in the house. Officers cleared the home and upon surveying it with the owner, found that his television set and a laundry basket full of video games and DVDs had been removed from the living room but left outside the back door. The owner could find nothing actually missing from his property. Police surmised that the burglar or burglars had been scared off during the break-in.

A Coralville, Iowa, woman reported that on Oct. 2 someone had stolen almost $1,000 worth of jewelry and a check from her checkbook from her room at the Crown Plaza West hotel, 10499 Innovation Dr., and had passed the check for $1,425 in the named of “Herbert Thomas.” She said she had hung out a “Do not disturb” sign before leaving for several hours and did not want anyone to enter. But when she returned, she found that housekeeping had cleaned her room and that her property was missing.

At 9 a.m., a resident of the 2000 block of North 117th Street reported that he had been contacted by the Brookfield police, who had told him suspects had been arrested who were in possession of his checkbook. He told Wauwatosa officers that he had not reported the theft last month of the checkbook, a jacket, a pair of prescription sunglasses and his cell phone from his unlocked car. The victim had cancelled the checking account immediately after discovering the theft. The Brookfield police report was not yet available.

A resident of the 800 block of North 73rd Street reported Tuesday that someone had entered his unlocked truck in his driveway and stolen his backpack, which contained a variety of items of fairly little value and two fairly expensive ones – textbooks on Criminal Justice and Ethical Dilemmas, which together had cost him nearly $300.

Monday

An foreman for Pieper Electric in Milwaukee reported that some time in the past several days someone had stolen 7,500 feet of copper wire that was intended for installing street lights in the road construction area in the 11500 block of West Blue Mound Road. The value of the wire was given at $5,625. The foreman said the wire had been installed underground in insulation and had been pulled out. In a related incident, another 2,500 feet of wire was damaged in an attempted theft from another part of the construction zone, costing Pieper another $1,875.

Saturday

Attempted scams were reported by Open Pantry, 11500 W. North Ave., and Caribou Coffee, in which a caller with a heavy foreign accent, thought by one manager to sound Middle Eastern, claims to be “from corporate” and requests that money be taken from the day’s receipts to pay a customer’s claim and money had been stolen from her wallet by an employee. The caller attempted this more than once at each store and never got anywhere, but business owners should be wary of such calls.

At 2:12 p.m., a 41-year-old Milwaukee woman was arrested for theft after she was seen concealing a number of health and cosmetic items in her purse and trying to leave the store without paying.

Friday

At 11 a.m., an art teacher at Wauwatosa East High School reported the theft of approximately $200 cash that was in an envelope in the art teachers’ office. The money is kept there as students purchase art supplies and pay fees at the office.

Employees of Wauwatosa Day Care at St. Jude the Apostle Church and School, 822 Glenview Ave., reported that multiple times on two successive days a man driving a silver work van circled the area or parked nearby and stared at the children on the playground. The van was thought to be a Chevrolet and had a ladder hung above the driver’s side. The driver was described as a white male, 35 to 40 years old, thin, with ear-length brown hair. The day care workers did not report a license number.

An employee of We Energies reported that some time overnight someone had climbed over a fence to get into a substation at 4566 N. 119th St. and stolen a 40-foot copper grounding cable worth $648.