Two Tosa Teens Arrested in Burglary at Construction Site

Two Wauwatosa teenagers, both just 18, got off to a distinctly poor start to their adult lives early Saturday morning when they were caught in the act of burglarizing a construction site. At the time of their arrest, they did not appear to quite understand the gravity of what they had done.

According to police reports:

Officers were called about 2 a.m. to investigate a resident’s report of suspicious subjects making loud noises on the second floor of one of the Enclave development buildings under construction in the 6000 block of West Martin Drive.

The first officers to arrive noticed a security gate was standing open and heard continuing loud noises from the building. Five officers, one accompanied by Tosa police dog Addy, formed a perimeter around the buildings and were about to start entering when one of them saw two suspects come out of the building carrying boxes.

They saw the officer, dropped the boxes and began to run. One of the suspects was found lying in the grass nearby, and when taken into custody, asked, “Would you guys believe me if I told this is the first time I’ve stolen anything?”

The other suspect ran from a second officer but, with the aid of Addy, who easily tracked him back to an open window in one of the buildings, was soon found hiding behind a piece of machinery.

Police found that the two teenagers had pried open two large, locked tool boxes and had been throwing tools out the windows, apparently intending to pick them up and cart them off from outside. More tools were lying on the floor and in the boxes they were carrying. In all, $4,000 worth of tools were removed from the boxes.

The two suspects said they had found the gate they entered standing open, and police did not find any sign of forced entry, so it appears the construction site, which is completely surrounded by a fence, was improperly secured.

One of the young men, when arrested, said that he wanted the tools to help his own budding career in carpentry. He also asked an officer, “I am going to get a ticket for this, aren’t I?”

Actually, police are recommending charges of burglary without force – hardly “a ticket.” The Class F felony is punishable by up to seven-and-a-half years in prison and five years additional supervision.