Three Guns Stolen in Jacobus Park Area Burglary

Even while a string of burglaries was hitting the Washington Highlands neighborhood in late June and July, Wauwatosa police noted that another bad actor was breaking into homes to the south.

A suspect was arrested and charged in a number of the Highlands incidents, but those in the Jacobus Park and Wellauer Heights neighborhoods, especially on Maple Terrace west of 68th Street, continue.

In the latest burglary reported in that area, property stolen included three guns, one a semi-automatic pistol, and the home was thoroughly ransacked.

At 4:15 p.m. last Tuesday, a resident of the 7100 block of Maple Terrace discovered that some time since noon someone had broken into her home and stolen a large amount of jewelry, electronic equipment including a 42-inch TV set, and even the kitchen coffee maker – and coffee – as well as the guns.

The resident said she'd been out and came in through the locked side door to find kitchen cabinets open and things strewn around the room. For a moment she thought a family member had made a quick stop and left a mess, but then she saw her coffee maker was gone, and then seeing other rooms rifled, she realized there'd been a burglary, left the house and called police.

Officers found a kitchen window screen pried off and propped against the house, and upon clearing the residence, one described it as "ransacked."

Every room of the upper two stories had been thoroughly and thoughtlessly pillaged, with every drawer, closet and cabinet opened and property just thrown out and about.

"All three bedrooms were ransacked so badly with all the drawers simply emptied and belongings thrown around that it was difficult to open the doors all the way and get into the rooms," an officer wrote in his report.

When the victim went through the house with officers for an accounting of her and her family's losses, one of the oddest things was what remained: a large amount of cash in a living room desk drawer that had been opened, but the money overlooked.

Not much else had been overlooked, though. The woman was not even able to provide police a full accounting of the jewelry she was missing, there were so many pieces gone in the maelstrom of a mess left behind in her bedroom.

Of considerable concern was the loss of three firearms:

• A 12-gauge semi-automatic shotgun, unknown make, model or serial number;
• A Marlin Model 1936 (originally) .30-30 lever-action rifle, converted to .32-caliber; and
• A Manurhin PPK/S .380-caliber semi-automatic handgun plus two magazines and ammunition.