Resident, Mail Carrier Are Victims in Armed Robberies

There are some striking similarities and also notable differences in two armed robberies in East Tosa early Wednesday morning and Saturday.

The robberies were days apart but separated by not much more than one block just north of West North Avenue. One occurred just after midnight and the other in broad daylight.

But each involved suspects of similar descriptions and wearing similar clothing, in each case with one of them wielding a black semi-automatic handgun.

At 12:24 a.m. Wednesday, a Wauwatosa man who lives in the 2300 block of North 63rd Street reported that he had been robbed at gunpoint by two men in the alley behind his home. A third man he had seen with them just before was not present when he was robbed but may have been acting as a lookout.

The victim told police he had just gotten off work and took the bus home, getting off at the stop at North 60th Street and West North Avenue. He saw three men standing at the northeast corner of the intersection but paid them little mind.

He said that as he walked west he heard some footsteps behind him but did not look back. He cut through the parking lot and then noticed the same three men from the bus stop were following him.

He said he decided to “pick up the pace” and hurried through the alley between 62nd and 63rd streets leading directly to his home. But just as he reached his residence, one of the men yelled, “Stop!”

He turned and found himself facing two of the men, one of them showing a black handgun. The other man said, “Give us all your money. Go really slow and don’t make any sudden movements.”

He reached into his pocket, took out his wallet and handed over all his cash. The two then ran back down the alley the way they had come.

The victim said he didn’t get a good enough look at the faces of the suspects in the dark to be able to recognize them, but he described both as black males he thought to be about 18 to 20 years old, 5 foot 6 inches to 5 foot 8 inches tall, weighing 140 to 160 pounds, and both wearing dark hoodies and pants.

Police interviewed a man who was waiting at the bus stop and he confirmed that three young men wearing dark clothing had been hanging around the stop earlier, and he had last seen them walking west into Wauwatosa, but he did not witness the robbery.

Mail carrier held up

At 3:30 p.m. Saturday, a Milwaukee man delivering mail for the U.S. Postal Service reported he was robbed at gunpoint in front of a house in the 2400 block of North 62nd Street by two partially masked men wearing black hooded sweatshirts.

He told officers he had seen the men walk past him. Moments later, as he was approaching the house to make a delivery, he heard a voice behind him say, “Give me all your money.” He turned around to find one of the men holding a black handgun to his face.

Again the suspect said, “Give me all your money.” The victim reached into his pocket and showed the robber a set of keys and said, “I don’t have any money.” With that, the robber ran off, and the victim saw the second man across the street where he had been acting as a lookout. He also ran.

The victim described the two suspects as black men about 20 years old, 5 feet 10 inches to 6 feet tall and weighing about 160 pounds. Both were wearing dark pants as well as the hoodies. He said each had a black cloth over his mouth.

The mail carrier did not have a cell phone and had to go some distance to find a pay phone to call police. By the time they arrived, the suspects were nowhere to be found.

A resident nearby contacted police to report having seen two suspects of about the same description trying to enter the carrier's mail van looking into the windows and trying the doors.

As he watched, they walked away and he saw them pass the mail carrier. When the carrier turned toward his delivery, he went out of the witness' line of sight. Moments later he saw the two hooded men running away.

His description of the suspects was similar except he thought they looked to be only about 16 years old and somewhere between 5 feet 8 inches and 5 feet 10 inches tall.