Police Reports: Two Drivers Find Reasons to Leave Scene of Crash

It isn't very unusual for police to come across an abandoned car. An incident Wednesday was a little stranger.

At 2:19 a.m., Milwaukee police alerted Wauwatosa police that they had come across two crashed and abandoned cars in the 3400 block of Menomonee River Parkway.

Tosa police found the two cars, both unregistered and without license plates, front-to-back in the street with moderate damage to each. The stereos in each car had been ripped out but were left in the cars. One still had the key in the ignition. Neither had been reported stolen.

The cars were towed and were being held pending the appearance of anyone claiming to own them when a 22-year-old Wauwatosa woman showed up later Wednesday at the police station looking for her car. She told officers she had stopped in the street after her temporary license plate fell off and that her car was then struck by the other.

She said she had exchanged information with the other driver but did not produce the same. She also said she had left the scene because, having exchanged information, she saw no reason to notify police.

She was found to have no driver’s license, no insurance and no registration. She also had two outstanding warrants for her arrest. She was sent to jail.

The owner of the other car, the reason it was abandoned, and who started to steal both stereos but then didn't remain a mystery so far.

In other recent incidents:

Thursday

A resident of the 1400 block of North 63rd Street reported that he had been the victim of a fraud after a man representing “Chimneys and Gutters R Us” accepted a check for $1,700 for work on the victim’s home and never returned to perform the work. Wauwatosa police learned the suspect had been arrested in Racine for similar frauds and was being extradited to Indiana for scams there and for failing to register as a sex offender.

The owner of a legal services business in the 11900 block of Blue Mound Road reported the theft of a snow blower from a shed outside the business some time between Jan. 19 and Tuesday.

Wednesday

Police were called to , 2111 N. Mayfair Rd., on a complaint that since Jan. 14 some 15 new tires had been stolen in at least three separate incidents. The tires were worth about $2,500 at dealer’s cost.

Tuesday

At 3:16 p.m., a 20-year-old Milwaukee man was arrested for theft at , 3900 N. 124th St., where he was employed as a cashier, after it was discovered he had been stealing gift cards and using them to purchase items in the same store.

A resident of the 10300 block of West North Avenue reported that some time since Sunday someone had entered her garage and smashed in a window of her car and stolen her purse and a GPS unit. She said she had been locking the car since it had been entered and rifled on Christmas Eve.

A resident of the 6700 block of Blue Mound Road reported that her car had been entered and rifled but she could find nothing missing.

Monday

At 7:27 p.m., a 21-year-old Wauwatosa man was arrested for resisting arrest and possession of marijuana and paraphernalia after he fought with a police officer following a traffic stop. An officer saw a car with four people inside idling in the parking lot of , 6607 W. North Ave., and a records check showed it had suspended plates belonging to a different car. The officer followed when the car left the lot and hit his emergency lights in the 2100 block of West Garfield Avenue. The car pulled into a driveway and the 21-year-old got out and ignored the officer’s orders to get back in the car. He then began to walk toward the house, and when the officer restrained him, he fought back. He only ceased to resist when the officer threatened to fire his Taser.

At 4:18 p.m., two 15-year-old girls, one from Wauwatosa and one from Milwaukee, were arrested for theft at Ragstock in after they were seen concealing clothing items and trying to leave without paying.

Wauwatosa police are seeking a known Cudahy man after a Wauwatosa resident complained that he had accepted and cashed a check in September for $3,000 to begin roofing work on her home and had performed no work and refused to return her money.

At 1:03 p.m., a 17-year-old Wauwatosa boy was arrested for possession of marijuana with intent to sell after a police officer stopped him for having unregistered license plates and found he had not only a quantity of drugs but also a large amount of cash, and scales and other paraphernalia associated with drug dealing. The boy admitted he regularly supplied about 20 people with marijuana.