Police Report: Two Serious Drunken Drivers Reeled In

Wauwatosa police made the city's streets a bit safer this weekend by taking two multiple-offense drunken drivers off the roads – one for his third offense and one for his fifth.

At 11:34 p.m. Friday, a 44-year-old Milwaukee man was arrested for drunken driving, fifth offense, in the 4900 block of Swan Boulevard. A patrol officer saw him speeding and with a headlamp out. Stopping behind the driver at a red light at Hampton Avenue, the officer ran a license check and learned that the owner's license had been suspended. After the stop, the driver failed a field sobriety test.

At 2:14 a.m. Sunday, a 32-year-old Milwaukee man was arrested for drunken driving, third offense, and operating after revocation of his license after a patrol officer saw him driving at 50 mph in a 30-mph zone on Wauwatosa Avenue and decided to follow him.

The driver turned east onto North Avenue and drove at high speed on the wrong side of the street, almost hitting a taxi. When the driver was pulled over in the 7200 block of North Avenue, he went beyond the parking lane, over the curb and onto the sidewalk, hitting and knocking down a light pole and a sign.

He then continued across Lefeber Avenue and went over the curb and onto the sidewalk there, as well. When the driver was put in back of a squad car, he promptly fell asleep. Given the circumstances, the arresting officer did not even bother to try to administer a field sobriety test until he got the driver to the police station, where he failed and refuse to submit to a blood alcohol test.

Also from the police reports:

Sunday

At 1:30 p.m., a resident of the 10500 block of West Garfield Avenue reported that at some time since 3:30 p.m. Wednesday someone had used a bolt cutter to break in to a shed behind his home. Nothing was taken from the shed.

At  6:50 p.m., a park employee reported vandalism of a picnic table in Hart Park, 7300 Chestnut St., consisting of graffiti drawn with a black permanent marker.

At 6:31 p.m., a resident of the 4600 block of North 100^th Street called police to report that a strange white van with someone inside had parked for several minutes in his driveway. Officers soon found the van parked in another driveway with a young subject at the wheel. He gave officers a nickname and told them he was looking at the house because it was for sale. The officer remarked in his report that the subject “did not appear to be of driving age or in the market to buy a home.” The van was found to be registered to the New Horizon Center, 3790 N. 12^th St., Milwaukee. When contacted, a member of the New Horizon staff identified a 15-year-old boy who was a resident of the center, and said that he had left the night before and taken the van without permission. While discussing this with the center employee, another nearby resident called to report he had a run-in with a young driver in a white van. The boy had told him he wanted to buy a car, and when the resident told him he had no car for sale, the boy had tried to follow him into his home. The boy was returned to the New Horizon Center and no charges were filed.

At 1:45 a.m., a Milwaukee woman reported that at some time since midnight someone had broken into her father’s car and stolen the CD player while she was visiting Bowlero, 11737 W. Burleigh St. The front passenger window had been broken out.

Saturday

At 9:30 p.m., a Wauwatosa police officer reported that at some time since 5 p.m., his squad car had been vandalized and damaged while it was parked underneath the at Mayfair Mall. Officers were inspecting similar damage caused to a mall security vehicle when one of them noticed that the hood of his car had been scratched, as with a key. Damage to each of the vehicles was estimated at $500.

At 2:30 p.m., a Wauwatosa resident reported that at some time since 6:30 a.m., the rear license plate had been stolen from her car while it was parked at the Lutheran Home for the Aging, 7500 W. North Ave., where she works.

At 1:30 p.m., the pharmacist at , 7520 W. Blue Mound Rd., reported to police that someone had presented a fraudulent prescription for the narcotic Oxycodone but had left before the fraud could be verified. Police were seeking a known suspect.

At 12:04 p.m., an 18-year-old Milwaukee man was arrested for retail theft at at Mayfair Mall after he was caught trying to leave the store with $130 worth of merchandise concealed in an empty shoebox. He had been seen on closed circuit TV taking the items into fitting rooms and leaving the rooms with no visible signs of the clothing.

Friday

At 9:02 p.m., a 50-year-old Milwaukee man was arrested for theft and possession of burglar’s tools after he pried open a cash drawer and took money at the Walgreens store at 2656 Wauwatosa Ave. about half an hour earlier. The man was identified from surveillance videos and his vehicle was stopped in the 2300 block of Wauwatosa Avenue. The man ran from police but was caught in a yard about a block away. He had $355.38 in his pockets and a small pry bar. The police report noted that the man had “numerous convictions for burglary, theft and drugs,” including a previous burglary in Wauwatosa.

At 5 p.m., Wauwatosa Police went to at 8340 W. Blue Mound Rd. to investigate another instance of a clumsy fraud scheme that has been attempted numerous times with only one reported success over more than a month. In each case, a man calls a chain retail outlet claiming to be “Mark Stein” from the corporate offices and tells employees they need to deliver money from the store to settle a customer’s loss claim. In this case, the man asked that $1,500 be delivered to the McDonald’s restaurant at North 25^th Street and West Wisconsin Avenue. The Bruegger’s employee kept the man on the phone for more than 20 minutes without letting him know she was also calling police. When she refused to give the con man information about the day’s receipts, he threatened to “fire the whole shift.” A check with Bruegger’s actual area manager found no reports of any customer’s loss claim. The same con had been tried on the same store on April 2 without success.

At 3:50 p.m., a 15-year-old Wauwatosa boy and his father reported that the boy had been attacked after school the day before by two older boys in the 1500 block of Alice Street. The boy is a freshman at Wauwatosa East High School and the attack was reported there before police were called. The boy said he was struck from behind in the neck and turned to see a boy holding a skateboard. He said he punched the boy twice in the face and knocked him down, then was attacked by another boy who struck him once in the arm. He told officers he kicked that boy in the side of the head, knocking him down as well. Both attackers then ran away, he said.