Police Reports: A Daytime Break-in; and Catalytic Converters Being Targeted

At 4:46 p.m. Wednesday, a resident of the 4200 block of North 92^nd Street reported that her home had been broken into some time since 7:30 a.m., when she and her husband had left for the day.

She pulled in to the garage and noticed the service door was standing open. Seeing also that the side door to her home was damaged, and fearing there might still be someone inside, she got back in her car, pulled down the block and called 911.

Police officers cleared the house, and the owners found that a video game system, a game, a camcorder and two digital cameras had been stolen. Nothing else in the home had been disturbed.

The woman said that their home had been burglarized once before, in January 2010.

Valuable auto parts go missing

Police may be looking for a thin, wiry thief capable of crawling under cars with cutting tools, as catalytic converters have begun to disappear off vehicles in the area.

At 9:54 a.m. Wednesday, a resident of the 1200 block of North 68^th Street reported that some time Tuesday afternoon someone had stolen the catalytic converter off his wife’s 2009 Kia Rio. He said she had used the car about 1 p.m. and all was normal, but when she started it again at 6 p.m. it was extremely loud.

He told officers he had taken the car to the dealership before coming to the police station and that a mechanic there told him the part had definitely been stolen and that it was the third car they had seen already during the week with a stolen catalytic converter. He was also told the cost of a new converter is $700, not including labor to install it.

A West Allis man reported Monday that the catalytic converter had been cut off his van while it was at his place of business in the 100 block of North 120^th Street in Wauwatosa.

In other incidents:

Friday

At 12:14 a.m., a 19-year-old Milwaukee man was arrested for possession of marijuana after a traffic stop for suspended license plates in the 2500 block of North Mayfair Road when he was found to have 5.4 grams of marijuana hidden in his car.

Thursday

At 7:44 p.m., a 16-year-old Milwaukee girl was arrested for theft at in after she was caught trying to leave the store without paying for three pairs of shorts.

At 3:56 p.m., a 36-year-old Milwaukee woman was arrested for trespassing after she was seen at Mayfair Mall, where she had been banned in November for vulgar outbursts toward other customers.

Wednesday

At 2:27 p.m., a 59-year-old West Allis woman was arrested for theft at , 6700 W. State St., after she tried to leave the store without paying for $28.76 worth of groceries.

At 1:09 p.m., the manager of , 6804 W. North Ave., reported that she had noticed two missing boxes of candy and, upon reviewing video from Tuesday, saw that they had been stolen by a black man she thought to be about 28 to 38 years old, 6-feet to 6-feet 2-inches tall, weighing 170 to 200 pounds and wearing a black parka with a fur-lined collar. Taken in the theft were a box containing 36 bags of Skittles worth $64.44 and a box of 24 bars of Twix worth $42.96. The same man had been seen there stealing candy on Dec. 2.

Tuesday

At 2:55 p.m., a 26-year-old Cudahy man was arrested for possession of marijuana after a woman in the 2400 block of North 83^rd Street called police about his suspicious behavior. She had seen him walking quickly up the sidewalk with a coat and scarf pulled up over his face so that only his eyes could be seen, even though the weather was mild. He turned out to be the subject of two police calls the day before on suspicion that he was stalking a former girlfriend who lives in the same block of 83rd Street. He was searched and, when officers found a bag of pot in his pocket, he declared, “These aren’t my pants!”

At 8:54 a.m., a 17-year-old Milwaukee boy was arrested for theft of some snack items from , 6950 W. State St., while he was truant from .

Monday

At 12:20 p.m., a 44-year-old Milwaukee man was arrested for theft after he tried to leave , 4100 N. 124^th St., without paying for three brass plumbing fittings worth $35. He had purchased several other items, including a Christmas wreath, but said he was short of money and needed the fittings right away. He told the store manager he was sorry and hoped that Home Depot would reconsider banning him because he is a regular customer.

At 1 p.m., a student at Wauwatosa East High School reported the theft of her backpack containing a school-owned iPad and her iPod, a book and makeup. She had briefly left it unattended in the cafeteria while she went through the lunch line. A janitor later found the backpack underneath the liner of a trash can in a boys’ bathroom, minus the iPad and iPod.

Sunday

A Milwaukee woman reported that her car window was smashed and her purse stolen while she was at Pine Lawn Memorial Park, 10700 W. Capitol Dr.