Police Report: Klutzy Crook Entering Cars in Madison Park Area

Residents of Tosa's most northerly neighborhood would be advised not to leave valuables in their cars overnight, as there seems to be a young man on the loose with a strong interest in seeing what’s inside.

A resident of the 4500 block of North 101st Street reported Wednesday that some time overnight someone had entered his car and stolen some change – and dropped an iPhone in the driver’s seat in the process. Police checked the phone and found that its service had been canceled in July and there was no information about any previous owner.

At 4 a.m. Friday, a man came home from work to find someone rummaging through his car in the 4500 block of North 103rd Street. The suspect made his escape empty-handed. The resident described him as white, tall and thin and wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt.

At 9:20 p.m. Saturday, a resident of the 4600 block of North 106th St. reported that she had just gone outside to lock her car for the night and found a strange man sitting in the driver’s seat rummaging through the center console. She said she yelled at him and he ran away without taking anything.

She described him as white, 18 to 20 years old, about 6 feet tall and skinny. He wore black-framed glasses and had on a brown hooded sweatshirt.

Police consider him a suspect in several other car entries reported in the same area that night. In one case an older model GPS unit was stolen; otherwise, nothing of value was noticed missing.

In other incidents during the past week:

Saturday

At 3:05 p.m., a 23-year-old Milwaukee woman was arrested for theft after police pursued and stopped her car following a report that she had stolen merchandise from Baby Gap at Mayfair Mall.

At 12:37 p.m., the owner of a temporarily unoccupied home in the 1400 block of North 65th St. reported that someone had entered the unlocked garage and taken his snow blower, bicycle and a set of golf clubs.

At 2:27 p.m., a 25-year-old Milwaukee woman was arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia, obstructing an officer and for three outstanding warrants when, during a traffic stop in which she was a passenger, she was found to have two hypodermic syringes hidden in her waistband and a bag containing 18 more syringes, tourniquets and other paraphernalia consistent with heroin use was found under the passenger’s seat. She gave a false name, but when correctly identified, she admitted she was a heroin addict. A records check showed four prior arrests for drugs or paraphernalia, all under similar circumstances. The driver of the car, a 51-year-old Pewaukee man, was also arrested for multiple warrants.

Friday

Counterfeit $50 bills were passed at both , 12345 W. Capitol Dr., and , 10800 W. Capitol Dr., at about 8:15 and 8:20 p.m. In each case, the bills were real $5 bills altered to look like 50’s. While police were at the Starbucks, the manager of the next-door Qdoba restaurant arrived and told officers that a short time earlier a man had tried to pass two $100 bills that she suspected were counterfeit, and she had refused him.

Thursday

At 3:07 p.m., a 20-year-old Milwaukee woman was arrested for theft after she was caught trying to steal baby formula and other merchandise from , 3900 N. 124th St.

Wednesday

A Mequon woman reported that some time between 5:45 and 6:30 p.m. someone broke a window in her car while it was parked at , 8700 Watertown Plank Rd., and stole her purse.

At 3:33 p.m., a man tried to pass a counterfeit $100 bill at , 12121 W. Feerick St., but a clerk who had been alerted of other attempts took extra precautions and discovered the fraud. She first checked the bill with a currency marker and it passed, proving it was a real bill. But upon close inspection, it proved to be a $5 bill altered to look like a 100.

The principal of reported that a school-issued iPad had been stolen from a student’s gym locker on Tuesday.

At 2:15 a.m., a 34-year-old Wauwatosa man was arrested for misuse of the 911 emergency number after he called it five times to ask whether police had his cell phone following an earlier police dispatch to investigate a verbal altercation at the man’s home in the 10700 block of West Keefe Avenue.

Tuesday

At 8 p.m., residents of the 2100 block of North 67th Street reported that some time since 6:25 p.m. someone had broken in to their home. Police found that the back door had been forced open, and the homeowners said they were missing their television set, a laptop computer and a box of jewelry.

At 5:53 p.m., a 15-year-old Wauwatosa boy was arrested for possession of marijuana and carrying a knife after a neighbor reported seeing him trying to enter a vehicle in the 200 block of North 121st Street.

A library media specialist reported that a school-owned iPad had been missing since earlier this month and is now believed to have been stolen.

Last Monday

At 3:27 p.m., an employee of Currie Park Auto, 10745 W. Capitol Dr., reported that he had chased off a man in the act of trying to steal a battery charger from the business and that he had gotten the license number of the car he fled in. Police ran a check and it proved to be a stolen car.

At 2:32 p.m., a 62-year-old Wauwatosa man was arrested for theft at , 6700 W. State St., after he was seen trying to leave without paying for a cartload of food.

At 10:32 a.m., the owner of , 6119 W. North Ave., reported that just after he opened for the day a man entered the business and robbed the cash register while it was briefly unattended, then fled on a bicycle.

At 9:08 a.m., a 22-year-old Milwaukee man was arrested for prowling in the 500 block of Elm Spring Avenue after a resident saw him standing in his driveway and thought he was acting suspiciously. The man claimed he was just looking for someone who had offered him work. When police searched the man’s backpack, they found several hypodermic needles, and the man admitted he is a heroin addict.

The owner of , 800 N. 68th St., reported that some time since Saturday someone had tried unsuccessfully to break in to the business by prying at the front door. The business has an alarm system but it was not triggered.