Police Reports: 'Suspicious Subject' Was Probably Burglar

At 4:49 p.m. Wednesday, a resident of the 8700 block of Jackson Park Boulevard called police to report a suspicious character she had seen ducking between cars parked behind Westwood Dry Cleaners, 8731 W. North Ave. Police investigated but could not find the subject.

Two hours later, though, the son of the owner of Westwood called police to say that his father’s iPad 2 had been stolen from the business sometime between 4 p.m., when it had last been seen, and 5 p.m., when it was missed.

After searching the whole business and speaking to all 10 employees in the building, he and his father decided that someone must have entered through the back door, which was wide open to cool the operation, and taken it off a table behind the counter.

The suspect seen earlier by their neighbor was described as black, 20 to 30 years old, 6-feet-1-to-2-inches tall, 180 to 200 pounds with an average to stocky build, wearing a black thigh-length coat, a black brimmed knit hat, and black pants and shoes. The woman was unsure she would be able to identify him.

In other recent incidents:

Thursday

At 11:38 p.m., a 21-year-old Wauwatosa man was arrested for misuse of 911, possession of marijuana and bail jumping after a hang-up call on the emergency line was traced to him. The man is well known to Wauwatosa police for repeatedly calling 911 without cause and for various drug offenses. He had 1 gram of marijuana in his pocket and his court record showed two felony narcotics charges pending against him. He was taken to the County Jail.

At 4:05 p.m., a 21-year-old Milwaukee man was arrested for theft in the parking lot of Mayfair Mall after he was identified to police by an employee of Solstice Sunglass Boutique as having just stolen a pair of $269 sunglasses. The sunglasses were recovered from him and returned, and he was cited with bail set at $681. He had two prior citations for retail theft.

Wednesday

A student at West High School reported that some time between 8 and 8:52 a.m., while he was in gym class, someone stole his hiking boots, a jacket and his combination lock from his locker.

Tuesday

At 5:04 p.m., a 32-year-old Milwaukee man was arrested and turned over to the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Department after he confronted his ex-girlfriend, in violation of a no-contact order, at Buffalo Wild Wings, 2635 N. Mayfair Rd., where she works. Aside from violating a restraining order, the man was found to have four outstanding warrants ­– one for five counts of bail jumping, two for disorderly conduct and one for criminal trespass.

At 4:45 p.m., a 27-year-old West Allis woman was arrested for theft at Metcalfe’s Sentry Foods, 6700 W. State St., after she was seen putting a bottle of rum in her purse and trying to leave the store. The woman claimed she was just going out to her car for some money and that she regularly puts merchandise in her purse to carry it. But she couldn’t explain why she didn’t leave the rum with a cashier while she retrieved her cash, as most people would.

At 4:30 p.m., a 17-year-old Milwaukee boy was arrested for theft and possession of stolen property at Mayfair Mall after he was suspected of stealing three pairs of sunglasses worth $540 from Solstice Sunglass Boutique. Police and mall security were called, and a Wauwatosa officer went to the store to interview the manager and view video footage, which clearly showed the crime. The officer stepped out of the store and, he reported, “I observed the suspect walking directly towards me….” He detained the boy, who admitted he had the stolen glasses in his backpack – and then some. He also had stolen merchandise from Cool Shades, Macy’s, the Apple Store, Spencer’s, Best Buy Mobile and Zumiez. Only Spencer’s and Zumiez were willing to assist with prosecution, so two counts of possessing stolen property were tacked on to the theft charge.

A 17-year-old boy and West High Student, who was living in a group home after seven juvenile offenses, was arrested for his first time as an adult after video surveillance showed him stealing another student’s backpack at the school on Nov. 12. The owner had left the backpack unattended with books and an iPad inside it. Video showed the suspect and two other boys gather around it, and him wheeling it out the door. One of the witnesses said that he told the suspect there were cameras in the school and “They are gonna have you on tape,” but he took it anyway. None of the owner’s property has been recovered, nor have the books, which belonged to the school.

At 12:54 p.m., a 23-year-old Milwaukee woman was arrested for theft at Macy’s after she was seen taking a shirt. In her purse, along with the shirt, were items stolen from Victoria’s Secret, Wet Seal, Forever 21 and Express Pantry, as well as a foil-lined bag.

At 1:30 a.m., a 28-year-old Wauwatosa man was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving, first offense, after an officer saw him speeding and fishtailing through a turn at North 76th Street and Blue Mound Road and pulled him over. The man was driving a convertible Mazda Miata with the top down and told the officer he was just enjoying the last of “convertible weather.” But he admitted he’d had a little to drink earlier. He performed poorly on sobriety tests and blew a .13 blood alcohol concentration.

Last Monday

A resident of the 8500 block of West Wisconsin Avenue reported that between 9 and 9:35 a.m. someone tried to break in through the back door of the home. She had gone to a grocery store briefly with her kids and came home to find the door damaged but not broken in. Police determined that someone had given the door at least one powerful kick.