Suspected Serial Car Thief Arrested in Wauwatosa

A young man who was at the wheel of a stolen car was arrested and implicated in another car theft Wednesday in Wauwatosa.

At 10:15 a.m. Wednesday, the 18-year-old Milwaukee man was arrested for driving a stolen vehicle and possession of stolen property after he was stopped for speeding on West Capitol Drive.

A officer working a shift on a Wisconsin Department of Transportation Safety Speed Grant was parked on North 102nd Street facing Capitol and conducting radar speed surveillance when he saw a dark gray Mazda approaching at 55 mph in the 35 mph zone.

When the driver spotted the squad car, he braked suddenly and made a hard turn into a dental office parking lot across the road. He drove behind the building, and when the officer arrived the Mazda was parked, with a passenger still in it, and another man was standing next to an SUV parked about 15 feet away.

When the officer ordered him back into his car, he claimed that he hadn’t been in the Mazda and it wasn’t his car. The latter was certainly true. The Mazda had been reported stolen in Milwaukee the night of July 1.

The passenger, who had no criminal record, told police that his friend had been driving and had jumped out when they got behind the building and out of sight of the officer. He also said he had asked his friend repeatedly where he got the car, and that while he claimed it had been lent to him, he thought it was probably stolen.

Officers found the key to the Mazda on the pavement near the SUV, where the suspect had been standing, and also found a stolen credit card in his pocket.

When they contacted the card’s owner, he told them that he had been playing volleyball at a park with some friends on Tuesday when his car was stolen as well, along with his wallet containing the credit card.

He said that besides the man who drove off in his car, there were at least two others involved. A second man was spotted rifling a car belonging to one of his friends, and he jumped out and ran to a dark gray Mazda, getting into the passenger seat and being driven away by an unseen third man at the wheel.