Police Reports: Tosa Man Says Acquaintance Tried to Rob Him with Gun

A Wauwatosa man reported that at about 9:15 p.m. Jan. 5 a man tried to rob him at gunpoint outside the Applebee’s at 6750 W. State St.

He said when he walked into the parking lot he noticed a man sitting in a car whom he recognized from a party in Milwaukee a couple of weeks before. The car, he said, was parked in the furthest stall from the store, near the bus stop.

He said the driver called him over, pointed a black handgun at him and demanded his money. He said he didn’t have any, and he told police that after two more demands without getting any cash, the subject drove off.

Wauwatosa police, suspicious that such a single chance meeting elsewhere would lead to a second chance criminal encounter in Wauwatosa, questioned the man as to whether perhaps there had been an arranged meeting, possibly for a drug transaction.

The man insisted he had been innocently going about his business and was in fact a robbery victim.

Officers asked him to contact the host or anyone he knew who had been at the party. He did, and came up with a phone number but no name for the man he described. Police were unable to contact anyone at the number.

The suspect was described by both the victim and the party host as black with a light complexion, 5-feet-8 to 5-feet-10-inches tall, 150 to 160 pounds, with squinty eyes and a low fade haircut. The car he was driving during the alleged robbery was a gray Ford Mustang with dark-tinted windows.

In other recent incidents:

Thursday

Two cars were broken into between 5:30 and 6:15 a.m. while their owners, a Wauwatosa woman and an Elm Grove man, were at Wisconsin Athletic Club, 8700 Watertown Plank Rd. In both cases, the cars were locked and windows were smashed. The Wauwatosa woman lost a designer bag containing some new clothing; the Elm Grove man lost two bags, one containing an iPad and his wallet with various cards and the other containing fishing tackle.

Wednesday

A Wauwatosa woman reported that between 6:15 and 6:50 p.m. her locked car was broken into while she was at Cardinal Fitness, 2885 N. Mayfair Rd. Her purse, with wallet, a handbag and a shopping bag were taken after a window was smashed in, and two charges were made on one of her credit cards before she could cancel it. She lost a great deal of personal property including gift cards and several sets of keys. Also stolen were an umbrella and a Pyrex baking dish she had just bought.

A Brookfield woman reported that between 11:30 and 11:50 a.m. his locked car was broken into, with a window being smashed, while he was at the Starbuck’s café at 151 N. Mayfair Rd. Her purse, containing her wallet and medical textbooks, was stolen, and charges were made on two of her credit cards. The police report referred two a second incident investigated as related, but no report on it had yet been filed as of Friday morning.

A 14-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy, both from Milwaukee, were cited for habitual truancy from Wauwatosa East High School. The girl had 17 unexcused absences during the first semester, the boy 14 days. Both claimed they had been sick on all occasions but their mothers didn’t call them in to the attendance office. Both had been repeatedly warned during the semester that continued unverified absences would end in them getting citations.

Tuesday

At 1:45 p.m., police were called to the Walgreens at 2656 Wauwatosa Ave. to wait for a known theft suspect to leave the store, and they arrested the 27-year-old Milwaukee man minutes later. The suspect had in fact left before they arrived but he was spotted just across the street. He had stolen a bag full of candy and a can of Spam, together worth $55.40.

A resident of the 4200 block of North 94th Street reported that overnight someone broke into her car by smashing a window and reaching in to steal her iPod.

Monday

A resident of the 300 block of North 116th Street reported his snowblower stolen from his back yard.

A Milwaukee woman reported her property stolen and a Pewaukee woman had her car damaged when it was broken into while they were at Mo’s Irish Pub, 10842 Blue Mound Road between 11:15 p.m. and 12:25 a.m. The Milwaukee woman had left a bag in her friend’s car, and it was taken along with contents including a credit card used twice before she could cancel her accounts. Later, some of her property was recovered nearby after the manager of Caribou Coffee, 418 N. Mayfair, arrived early and found a black high-heel shoe and a pair of black pants lying in the parking lot, a cologne box, then a leopard-skin bag and finally some ID cards with her name. As it turned out, the Mo’s victim said the pants and cologne box weren’t hers – apparently they belonged to another theft victim somewhere.