Police Report: Update on Crime in Wauwatosa

Here are the latest reports from the Wauwatosa Police Department:

Thursday

At 6:05 p.m., a Milwaukee woman reported that her 19-year-old younger sister had been pepper-sprayedby an unknown man while they were sitting outside the store at Mayfair Mall. She said they had passed the man inside the mall about an hour earlier and he had scoffed at them. They later saw him staring at them from a car outside the mall, and he got out and began to insult them, then sprayed the younger woman in the face with pepper spray and left. Neither woman knew the man or could say why he assaulted them.

At 6:33 a.m., a custodian at the Fisher Building, 12121 W. North Ave., which houses the Wauwatosa Schools District administration, reported that overnight someone had broken a first-floor window on the east side of the building. It appeared to have been an act of vandalism and no one had entered the building.

At 6:25 a.m., a construction worker from Two Rivers reported that sometime Wednesday morning his wallet, containing $800 to $900 in cash and a number of credit cards, had been stolen from his unlocked truck while it was parked at his work site in the 11900 block of Blue Mound Road. He had been contacted about 12:30 p.m. by his credit companies about unusual activity on his cards, and ended up with charges of more than $2,500 on top of the loss of all his cash.

At 12:33 a.m., a resident of the 2400 block of North 74th Street reported that someone had stolen his minivan from his driveway. The owner said he had heard a “clanging” sound from outside and looking outside, saw someone inside the van. He called police and then went outside, but by that time the van was gone and he did not get a description of the driver.

 Wednesday

 At 1:12 a.m., a 23-year-old Brookfield man was arrested for drunken driving, second offense, after he was stopped in the 2200 block of Swan Boulevard. A patrol officer noticed that a taillight was damaged and ran a check, finding that the driver’s license of the owner had been canceled. The man performed poorly on a field sobriety test and blew a 0.13 blood alcohol content on a breath test. He had been arrested before for driving while intoxicated in September 2009, also in Wauwatosa.

Tuesday

At 4:30 p.m., a resident of the 500 block of Elmspring Avenue reported that someone had stolen a “Recall Scott Walker” sign from his front yard.

At 12:21 p.m., a 16-year-old Wauwatosa girl was arrested for criminal damage to property and obstructing an officer after she was stopped in the store at Mayfair Mall on suspicion of attempting a retail theft and was found to have ripped three shirts in the process of having removed their security sensors in a fitting room. The girl twice gave officers a false name and age before finally admitting her real identity. Two other teens who were with her were not arrested, but all three were banned from the mall.

At 10:44 a.m., police were called to Innovators Salon, 10600 Blue Mound Road, on a report from the owner that the large picture window at the business had been shattered. It appeared to be an act of vandalism as there was no evidence anyone had tried to enter.

At 2:10 a.m., a 23-year-old Wauwatosa woman was arrested for drunken driving, first offense, after she ran a red light at North 70th and West State streets. The officer suspected she was intoxicated and asked her to perform a field sobriety test. While she performed reasonably well, when she agreed to a preliminary breath test she registered over 0.15, nearly twice the legal level.

Monday

Loss prevention officers at Target, 3900 N. 124th St., reported discovering a large retail theft on surveillance video recorded Sunday. A man and a woman could be seen stealing 31 cans of baby formula and a large tote used to carry it all away, for a total loss of $796.98.

A resident of the 4000 block of North 94th Street reported that someone had entered his open garage and ransacked two unlocked cars inside, taking a digital camera from one and also stealing a mountain bike that had been hanging in the garage.

A Wauwatosa man reported to police that sometime Sunday morning his debit card and cell phone had been stolen from a room at , 11811 Blue Mound Road. He said he had been drinking the night before at and was locked out of his house, so he decided to stay at the motel. He also invited along two women he met at the tavern, had sex with one of them, and woke to find his belongings gone. He soon learned that he was also $900 poorer in ATM withdrawals made on his debit card. He suspected the women had remembered his PIN number from when he had stopped at an ATM with them on the way to the motel to get cash.

At 6:43 a.m., a resident of the 8300 block of Gridley Avenue reported that someone had broken in to her locked garage and stolen her lawnmower, worth $250. Officers found that the service door in back had been pried open.