Police Reports: Drug Addict Endangers Officer by Failing to Disclose Disease

Police officers go out every shift knowing they might face all kinds of dangers, including possible gun- or knife-play or being targeted by a speeding car.

A Wauwatosa patrol officer learned only after he had handcuffed a woman, handled her intravenous drug kit, helped her into the back of his squad car, taken her to the station and booked her that he was at risk of contracting a serious disease.

The woman waited that long to tell him she has hepatitis C.

At 1:51 a.m. Friday, the 34-year-old Milwaukee woman was arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia after a traffic stop revealed that she had two outstanding warrants.

The patrol officer saw her driving without headlights on Blue Mound Road at North 73rd Street and pulled her over. Learning she had warrants out from Oak Creek for possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, he handcuffed her and searched her car.

In her purse, he found eight used, uncapped hypodermic needles, some with blood drawback in them, three used crack pipes, a cooking spoon covered with residue, and a heroin kit containing a tourniquet, metal cooking caps, Q-Tips, etc.

The woman admitted that she was a daily heroin user and had been since she was 13 years old, and that she works as a prostitute on Milwaukee’s south side to support her addiction.

After being taken to the police station, booked and placed in a holding cell to await pickup on the warrants, she finally informed police that she is hepatitis C positive, and officers noted only then that she had open sores on her legs.

Both the squad car and the holding cell were marked “contaminated” and taken out of service until they could be sterilized.

The report did not say how many other personnel at the station might have come into contact with the woman.

In other recent incidents:

Sunday

Three cars were broken into overnight at the , 11111 W. North Ave., by someone who used a flathead screwdriver to pry at the windows until they shattered. In two of the incidents, a Jasper, Ala., man lost a GPS unit and some loose change, and a Flint, Mich., man reported his girlfriend’s purse and some change were stolen. No report was available on the third incident.

Friday

A Milwaukee woman reported that her wallet was purloined from her purse by a pickpocket at the store, 12121 W. Feerick Ave. She said she knew the wallet was in her purse when she started shopping with her handbag slung over her shoulder and that several people bumped and jostled against her. When she went to make a purchase, the wallet was missing. Before she could cancel her credit cards, her Target store card was used to make nearly $1,600 in fraudulent charges at the nearby at 3900 N. 124th St. Photos of two suspects using the card, a man and a woman, were recovered from the Target video surveillance system.

At 5:11 p.m., two Milwaukee women, one 21 and one 26 years old, were arrested for retail theft after they were seen concealing items in the Ragstock store at and leaving without paying. When their purses were searched, officers found merchandise not only from Ragstock but from , , and as well.

A resident of The Reserve, 6100 W. State St. reported that his car had been stolen overnight while it was parked in the lot at the apartment complex. He discovered on the Milwaukee Police Department website that his car had been ticketed at 4 a.m. at 2900 N. 10th St. for being parked on the wrong side of the street. Wauwatosa and Milwaukee police did an area check but the car was no longer there.

A resident of the 1400 block of Church Street reported that some time since Wednesday morning, when she last saw it, someone had entered her unlocked garage and stolen a bicycle.

A Menomonee Falls man reported that between 7:30 p.m. Thursday and 12:15 a.m. Friday someone broke into his car by smashing a window and stole his company laptop computer and accessories while he was at , 10842 Blue Mound Rd.

Thursday

At 7:02 p.m., a 20-year-old West Bend man was arrested for theft after he stole a phone from the Best Buy Mobile store in Mayfair Mall. The man had been in the store with his girlfriend and their young child, who was in a stroller. The man had taken the phone and left without his family. When police arrived, the man’s girlfriend had been confronted about the theft by the store manager, and he had put her on the store phone, calling the stolen phone and getting an answer from her boyfriend. She was trying to persuade him to return with the phone when police took over the call and made the same suggestion. He did return shortly and was arrested. Besides the phone, a phone case and charger were found concealed in the child’s stroller.

An employee of the reported that two attempts had been made to break into the department’s small storage building at , 4555 N. Mayfair Rd. He said that he supervises children’s summer recreation activities there, and on Tuesday noticed that the lock on the building was slightly bent and scratched. He did not think the damage warranted calling police then, but on Thursday noticed that another attempt had been made and now the lock and door were badly damaged. Police found the marks of a prying tool on and around the lock. The only things kept in the building are children’s game equipment and toys.

At 10:20 a.m., police were called to the south entrance area of Mayfair Mall to pursue a woman who dropped a bag of stolen goods and fled after she was confronted by security. The bag contained $467.50 worth of merchandise. The suspect could not be found in the area.