Police Reports: 100th Street Burglar Was Double-Dipping

The victim of was not alone in his woes, it turns out.

The next morning, his next-door neighbor discovered his home had also been broken into. At the least, his report gave police a clear timeframe for when both crimes likey occurred.

At 7:27 a.m. Friday, another resident of the 4400 block of North 100th Street reported that between 9:20 and 10 p.m. Thursday, someone broke into his home and stole a video game system.

He said that during the time noted, he and his family had gone to the Village for Yo Mama frozen yogurt, and when they returned, he found the back door open and a kitchen window raised.

The man said he thought his wife had left them open, and he went to bed thinking no more of it.

Early in the morning, though, he passed the family’s entertainment center and noticed the Nintendo Wii game system missing. He then for the first time noticed mud on the floor and realized the home had been burglarized.

Police found the kitchen window screen cut slightly, just enough to get a finger in to unlatch it and then raise the unlocked window.

While standing outside waiting for police to arrive, the homeowner encountered his next-door neighbor and learned that his home had been broken into as well.

That neighbor's home was rifled after the back door was kicked in, and computers, game systems, DVDs and a digital camera were stolen.

In other recent incidents:

Saturday

A Milwaukee woman reported that between 11:30 a.m. and noon, someone stole her purse from her car in the parking lot of the restaurant at 6631 W. North Ave. She had locked the car but left a rear window rolled down 3 to 4 inches, she said. There was no sign of forced entry.

At 2:53 a.m., a Wauwatosa patrol officer checked a silver 2002 Dodge Caravan parked in the 4000 block of North 92nd Street and found it had been reported stolen Friday in 8600 block of West Lapham Street in Milwaukee. He said it appeared to have been abandoned recently and asked for a backup squad to check the area, but no suspects were spotted. The ignition had been punched out. (See attempted auto theft Friday, below.)

At 2:51 a.m., a 24-year-old Wauwatosa woman was arrested on open warrants after she was stopped 6200 block of West Center Street for a suspended registration. She had a Wauwatosa warrant for driving after revocation and an Oak Creek warrant for possession of marijuana.

Friday

A Waukesha woman reported that some time between 8 a.m. and 5:10 p.m., while she was at work at the , 7500 W. North Ave., someone tried to steal her minivan from the parking lot. She returned to her vehicle after her shift to find the steering column stripped and the ignition punched out. She said she was “99.9 percent sure” she had locked the van, although no sign of forced entry was found. Surveillance video showed a 2001-2007 model silver Dodge Caravan – the same make and model as hers – pulling part-way into a parking spot next to it at 3:56 p.m. and leaving at 4:01 p.m. The front door of the victim’s van was not visible in the video and no criminal activity could be seen. The suspect vehicle matched the description of a stolen Caravan recovered early Saturday morning in the 4000 block of North 92nd Street.

A Pewaukee man reported that between 3:30 and 5 p.m., while he was parked at in the west lot, the catalytic converter was cut off his car and stolen. Surveillance video showed that the theft occurred at 4:45 p.m. when a blue 1994-’95 Plymouth Voyager backed into the spot next to the victim’s car and a “lookout” – a dark-complexioned black male of average height and build, wearing a bright orange T-shirt – put up the hood and acted as if he were working on the engine. Police inferred that a second suspect was working under the victim’s car. If so, he was not seen, as the video camera pans in and out of view. However, at no other time during the hour and a half the victim’s vehicle was parked there did any other vehicle or person approach it.

At 4:32 p.m., a 19-year-old Arlington, Texas, woman was arrested for theft at at Mayfair Mall after she was seen hiding three items in her child’s stroller and trying to leave the store. The woman refused to make a statement.

At 1:49 p.m., two Milwaukee women, 42- and 48-year-old sisters, were arrested for theft at , 6700 W. State St., when they concealed seven bottles of Johnny Walker scotch in their purses – three in one and four in the other – and were caught trying to leave the store without paying. One sister said she was unemployed and stealing to sell the liquor to buy a McDonald’s meal for her son when she would have custody of him on Saturday. The other said she is an Oxycontin addict and was stealing to sell the liquor to support her addiction.

A couple living in the 11600 block of Woodland Ave. reported the theft of a .45-cal. pistol from a locked gun case in their home. The gun was last known to have been in the case as of about June 1. They suspect an acquaintance to whom the husband showed the weapon a couple of weeks ago after he inquired about their guns. The homeowner said the man would have seen him getting and returning the keys from their hiding place. Police have interviewed the man and he denied stealing the weapon.