Police Report: Pick 'n Save Employee Chases Down Shrimp Thief

As a 57-year-old Milwaukee man walked out of Saturday evening with $80 worth of shrimp tucked under his jacket, so did a store employee intent on retrieving the stolen seafood.

The employee told police he spotted the man hugging himself in the grocer located at 4145 N. Oakland Ave., leading him to believe the suspect was concealing merchandise under a jacket. He asked the suspect if he was hiding merchandise he planned to steal; the man said no.

The employee followed the suspect out of the store, while calling police. He trailed the Milwaukee man into an alleyway behind a neighboring where the suspect dropped five bags of shrimp and took off running.

The employee told police he started to pick up the bags of shrimp, but decided to chase after the suspect.

He pursued the man at least seven blocks until police arrived on scene in the 1100 block of East Capitol Drive, near the Oak Leaf Trail Bridge.

The suspect was taken into police custody and cited for retail theft.

Also in the police report:

• A Shorewood woman called police Sunday after she says a man she invited back to her home after partying on North Water Street stole nearly $500 worth of property from her purse. She told police she, along with her friends, were offered a ride home by the man and once they arrived at her Shorewood home, the man grabbed a $400 camera, $75 iPod Touch, driver’s license, credit cards and $20 in cash from her purse. Police say the man also tried to steal a laptop, but the victim’s friend was able to stop him.

• The front passenger window was smashed out and wallet taken from a car parked in a parking lot in the 4200 block of the Estabrook Parkway on Saturday. The auto break-in occurred sometime between 5:15 and 6:11 p.m. A credit card from the wallet was used to rack up fraudulent charges at a Citgo gas station in Milwaukee.

• A 16-year-old Shorewood boy was arrested for retail theft Friday after security at Pick ‘n Save, 4145 N. Oakland Ave., witnessed him stealing $10 worth of merchandise and detained him until police could arrive. Police say he also stole $15 worth of products from Walgreens, 4081 N. Oakland Ave., earlier that day. He was later released to his father.

• After witnessing a man take some small solar stake lights from his front yard on Thursday, a resident in the 2100 block of North Beverly Road followed the thief to a residence in the 3800 block of North Maryland Avenue where police would later catch up with him. The property was returned and the victim didn’t want to file a formal complaint, so police say no arrests were made.

• A resident in the 2400 block of East Shorewood Boulevard told police Saturday a political sign in his front yard was torn in half sometime overnight on Friday. It’s unclear what kind of political sign it was.