Another Gun Among $8K in Property Stolen in Burglary

A Wauwatosa woman found the door to her duplex flat kicked in and more than $8,000 worth of her property missing, including a handgun.

She told police she suspected a relative who has a drug problem, according to police reports, but there was no immediate evidence to indicate the break-in wasn't the act of a stranger.

The woman called police at about 5:30 p.m. May 16 to report that she had just come home after being away for nearly a day to find her lower apartment in the 2500 block of North 68th Street burglarized.

She let her self in as usual through the common door, she said, but found her own door broken open with a 2-foot long crack in the middle of it. She retreated to her car and called police.

Officers cleared the residence and then had the woman tour it with them. In her daughter's bedroom, a TV set was flat on the floor, but nothing appeared to be missing. But her own bedroom was thoroughly rifled, with drawers pulled open and emptied and clothing and other items strewn around.

A TV set, jewelry, clothing and accessories were missing there, along with a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson pistol and a large amount of cash she had hidden under her mattress.

From the living room and dining room, another TV, a laptop computer, a digital camera and other electronic were gone.

Police were able to collect some forensic evidence from the scene but did not know for certain whether it came from the perpetrator or whether it would be of enough quality to identify a suspect.

While there was no physical evidence to support the victim's notion that the burglar or burglars might have been known to her and targeted her, detectives noted that the resident of the upper flat of the duplex told them he was nearly certain he had left his apartment door unlocked, yet it was undisturbed and he was missing nothing.

He also mentioned that he had not noticed any damage to his downstairs neighbor's door when he left for work in the morning, leading police to believe the burglary occurred during the day.

Few in the neighborhood had been home and of those who were no one noticed anything unusual or suspicious either that day or the night before.