Woman's Hunt for Rock-Star Parking Stops Thief, Police Say

A search for a parking space for one woman ended poorly for a Wauwatosa man after she saw him trying to open the door of a truck downtown and thought he was going to be leaving a prime spot.

Jerrell Leroy Washington, 48, was charged Saturday in Milwaukee County Circuit Court with one count of criminal damage to property. If convicted, he faces up to nine months in jail and $10,000 in fines.

According to the criminal complaint:

At 12:48 p.m. Dec. 6, a woman was driving around looking for a parking space in the 800 block of East Kilbourn Avenue when she saw Washington walk up to a truck and begin to pull on the back door as if he were trying to open it. The woman thought Washington owned the truck and was going to leave, so she stopped right behind the truck and waited so she could take the spot.

Washington saw the woman staring at him, and he immediately scurried away. The woman realized something was amiss. She quickly called the number for the contractor listed on the side of the truck and told the owner what she just witnessed.

The contractor called Milwaukee police, and officers sent to the area found Washington nearby and arrested him. As fortune would have it, video surveillance footage from a nearby building showed Washington trying to get into the truck.

Washington is currently being held in Milwaukee County Jail on $200 bond while awaiting trial.