Armed Robbery Report is 'Unusual,' Police Say

A Tosa man waited nearly a day to report that he and his girlfriend had been robbed at gunpoint in his home.

He said he didn't know his assailants, but they seemed to know him, or at least enough about him to call him by his nickname.

One of the robbers also seemed to know his victim would have a lot of cash on hand. After the victim turned over between $2,000 and $3,000 – he wasn't sure – the assailant expected more.

And even though the victim shares the residence with three housemates, the robbers went directly to his bedroom, robbed him not only of his cash, but all his valuable belongings, and did not look at or touch anyone else's items.

"Unusual, to say the least," said a Wauwatosa police officer.

According to the police report:

The 23-year-old resident of the 500 block of North 98^th Street came to the police station at 6:35 p.m. Sunday and reported that he and his girlfriend had been victims of an armed robbery and home invasion. He said the robbery occurred around 11 p.m. the night before.

When asked why he waited nearly 20 hours to report it, he said he had wanted to talk to all his friends first. He said he shares the residence with three friends who had left for the evening while he and his girlfriend stayed home.

The man told police his girlfriend was going downstairs to pull her car in off the street when she was confronted by two men, one of them with a gun. The armed man went upstairs and straight to the resident’s bedroom. He was wearing a white T-shirt pulled up to his eyes. He pointed the gun at the resident and said, “Give me everything. This is a robbery.”

The resident said he went to a fleece jacket in his closet and turned over between $2,000 and $3,000 in cash. He also turned over some watches and asked what else the robber wanted.

The assailant said, “Where’s the money, J.T.? I want all the money, J.T.” The resident said that was his nickname, known to all his friends, and that he did not know how the robber knew it.

Then he heard a loud bang outside his room and saw the other robber throwing his girlfriend to the floor. “J.T.” then opened an unlocked safe in his bedroom and the robber took earrings and another watch, then took his Xbox and 10 games, headphones, two pairs of tennis shoes, car keys and house keys before leaving.

None of the roommates’ belongings were taken.

The victim said he talked to his girlfriend about it, and neither of them wanted to call the police. His friends came home around 1:30 a.m., they all talked it over, and none of them wanted to call police.

“J.T.” went to the station, he said, only after his parents told him to report the incident, but he did not bring his girlfriend, the only other witness.

Police said they expect to learn more as the investigation progresses.