Police Reports: Work Trucks Were Targets Tuesday

In three incidents reported Tuesday moring, at least two of which were almost certainly related, work trucks were targeted and two were broken into with property stolen. Two incidents occurred in the same residential area; the third took place in a hotel parking lot some distance away.

A resident of the 9800 block of West Grantosa Drive reported that some time overnight someone had broken into his work van while it was parked in his driveway and stolen a number of tools, some of which belonged to him and some to his employer. Police found that entry had been gained by breaking part of the rear license plate holder, which allowed access to the door locking mechanism.

A resident of the 3100 block of Menomonee River Parkway reported that overnight someone had tried to break in to his work van while it was parked in his driveway but no entry was gained because the cargo bay windows are all lined with strong steel mesh. Nevertheless, at least $500 damage was done to the glass of one window and to both side and rear door locks.

A Chicago man reported that some time overnight someone had broken into his company semi-tractor cab and stolen a GPS unit while it was parked at , 11111 W. North Ave. The driver’s window of the cab had been shattered.

In other incidents:

Thursday

At 6:10 p.m., a Germantown woman reported that $345 worth of clothing had been stolen from the trunk of her car while she was at , 3201 N. Mayfair Rd. She said she had been in the store briefly around 3 p.m. and returned to find the trunk open. She said she might have accidentally hit the trunk release button on her remote key fob when she left the car.

At 5:32 p.m., a 17-year-old Wauwatosa boy who is a student at reported that someone had broken a window in his home in the 6700 block of West Wells Street a few minutes before. He told police he had heard shouting and yelling outside and he had looked out a window to see five boys and two or three girls dressed in black clothing milling around on the sidewalk in front of his house. Moments later, he heard a crash and found that someone had thrown a chunk of asphalt through the living room window.

At 5:18 p.m., a 20-year-old Milwaukee man and a 15-year-old Milwaukee boy were arrested for theft at at after they were seen trying to leave the store without paying for hats and a scarf from the Polo department.

At 2:49 p.m., a 17-year-old Milwaukee boy was arrested for theft after he tried to steal a pair of $64 jeans from Macy’s at Mayfair by hiding them under his sweatshirt. As he was leaving the store he saw a security officer approaching and went back into the store and replaced the jeans, then ran out. Despite the return of the merchandise, police were called and they collared the suspect in the parking lot behind restaurant, 2635 N. Mayfair Rd. The youth was banned from the mall for five years.

Wednesday

At 10:24 p.m., a 19-year-old Milwaukee man was arrested for prowling after he was seen looking into an apartment building and a vehicle parked behind it in the 8100 block of West North Avenue. He was identified by his state inmate ID card and said he was looking for a friend he had met in jail, but no one in the apartment building had ever heard of the friend he described.

An 18-year-old student at Wauwatosa East High School reported that some time during his sixth-hour class someone had stolen his school-owned iPad. He said it was out on his desk while the class was doing things away from their desks and at the end of class it was missing.

At 6 p.m., police were called to the store in Mayfair Mall on a theft complaint, but before they arrived at the store they saw three females running through the mall toward Macy’s. Two of them were detained, but it turned out they had been cleared to leave by Mayfair security. The third female had concealed a pair of jeans in a foil-lined bag and, although a Buckle employee had confronted her and recovered the jeans, she had run when mall security was called.

At 3:34 p.m., a 17-year-old Milwaukee boy was arrested for theft at Macy’s after he tried to leave the store with two pairs of jeans worth $116 together concealed in a foil-lined bag.

At 6:11 a.m., the manager of an apartment building in the 7900 block of West North Avenue reported that some time overnight the building had been burglarized. Officers found that the front door into the common area had been pried open, but no entry had been made to any apartments and nothing inside the building was found to be damaged or missing.

An employee of Macy’s was arrested for theft after she was seen stealing a $100 ring set on Tuesday and left the store when loss prevention staff approached her. Surprisingly, the 20-year-old Milwaukee woman returned to work on Wednesday and was detained and arrested in the store security office.

Tuesday

At 8:55 p.m., security staff at  in Mayfair Mall reported that two men had left the store with merchandise they hadn’t paid for and refused to stop when confronted. An employee was able to grab all of the stolen items, jeans worth $422, back from one suspect but the other got away with at least two shirts and another pair of jeans.

At 7:48 p.m., the owners of a vacant house in the 2300 block of North 60th Street reported that some time since Sunday afternoon, when they had last shown the house for sale, someone had broken in and cut and stolen copper plumbing pipes in the basement. The burglars had also done considerable damage, ripping up drywall from the wall and ceiling to get at the piping. The house had been burglarized in January for the same purpose.

At 7:33 p.m., a 19-year-old Greenfield man was arrested for possession of a controlled substance after he and two friends were seen smoking synthetic marijuana by security officers while they sat in a car in the parking lot under the at Mayfair Mall.

At 4:36 p.m., a 28-year-old Milwaukee man was arrested for theft at , 6950 W. State St., after he concealed and tried to leave the store without paying for a bottle of tequila.

At 2:58 p.m., police were called to , 3880 N. 124th St., on a report of a physical fight between a man and a woman. By the time officers arrived, the two were gone, but soon a call came in from a Milwaukee County bus driver who had stopped to await help with the warring parties. The 24-year-old man and 25-year-old woman, both from Milwaukee, continued to attempt to fight each other and police, so both were arrested for disorderly conduct and resisting an officer. The woman later stripped off all her clothes in the holding cell and crawled under the bunk naked, for reasons that were not entirely clear.

At 1 p.m., Henry Williams, 53, of Milwaukee was arrested and subsequently charged with theft after he tried to steal eight bottles of vodka worth $202.92 from Pick ‘n Save and then tried to make his getaway on a county bus. Police pulled in front of the bus to block it and took him into custody without incident. Williams was charged Thursday in Milwaukee County Circuit Court.

Monday

At 4:59 p.m., a security employee at , 4100 N. 124th St., called police to report that a man had left the store without paying for $447.80 worth of copper tubing. He was stopped by a cashier who asked to see a receipt, upon which he claimed he was trying to return the copper. When the cashier got a phone call, he quickly left. He was seen on video entering the store empty-handed and taking the copper from the store shelves, not returning it.

At 2:40 p.m., a 17-year-old Milwaukee girl was arrested for theft at the Buckle store in Mayfair Mall after she was seen concealing a pair of jeans in a bag and then left the store without paying for them.

At 11:51 a.m., a 52-year-old Pewaukee man was arrested for drunken driving after he struck two light poles in the 12200 block of Underwood Parkway, severely damaging his SUV, and then left the scene of the accident on foot. He was found nearby, looking disoriented, but he denied being involved. However, a witness to the accident described him to police and he soon came clean. Because he was injured, he was taken to the hospital where, unknown to police, a blood draw was taken before he had been read his rights. So police asked him for a breath test, to which he consented, and he blew a .17 blood alcohol content.

At 11 p.m., a 31-year-old Milwaukee man was arrested for battery, criminal damage to property and violating a restraining order, and a 27-year-old woman, also of Milwaukee, was arrested for first-degree recklessly endangering safety with a dangerous weapon after what was first reported as a minor traffic accident but turned out to be a major lovers’ quarrel. The female suspect had been in one car with her boyfriend and young daughter when she was approached by her husband (the other criminal suspect) and his new girlfriend. A shouting match over custody of the child ensued and escalated when his girlfriend began to bash the woman’s car with a crowbar, prompting her strike the girlfriend with her car, injuring her.

Sunday 

At 10:16 p.m., a 28-year-old Milwaukee man was arrested for disorderly conduct after a Wauwatosa resident called police to report that she had seen him urinating on a fence in the 2200 block of North 60th Street. She told police he was with a woman and several young children at the time. Officers found him at the bus stop at North and 60th streets and took him into custody.