Police Reports: Gone in 60 Seconds – But Who's the Sucker?

Leave your car running, even for a minute? Probably a bad idea, but it turned out OK for this guy and maybe for Wauwatosa police if they can match up some obvious evidence.

At 10:04 p.m. Monday, a Milwaukee man reported that his car had been just been stolen after he left it running while he stopped in briefly at an apartment in the 7400 block of West Center Street.

He said he ran inside for only a minute – but when he came back out, his ride was gone.

Police checked the area and soon found the man’s car abandoned in an alley about four blocks away, undamaged, with his belongings strewn about the interior.

The thief apparently got nothing of value from the car, but left something of value behind for police – two excellent sets of fingerprints.

In other recent incidents:

Thursday

At 7:39 a.m., a resident of the apartments, 2516 124^th St., reported that someone had broken into his storage locker in the basement of the building, cutting the chicken wire enclosure open and stealing his 140-gallon fish tank and stand, worth $2,000, and his fishing tackle box, worth $300.

Wednesday

At 5:23 p.m., a 43-year-old Waukesha man was arrested for theft at after he was seen stealing nine baseball caps worth more than $300 from Lids. A police officer stopped him in the mall and found he had the caps in a foil-lined bag.

A resident of the 9600 block of West Hampton Avenue reported that between 6:30 p.m. Tuesday and 2 p.m. Wednesday someone stole her car, a 2001 Chrysler Sebring, from the parking lot of her apartment building.

Tuesday

A resident of the 200 block of North 111^th Street reported that her 9-year-old son’s bicycle had been stolen during the 20 minutes he had been playing at the playground with friends at .

At 5:37 p.m., an 18-year-old woman and a 19-year-old man, both of Wauwatosa, were arrested for underage drinking in the parking lot behind .

A resident of the 2400 block of North 63^rd Street reported that overnight someone had entered his detached garage, rifled his car and stolen a bicycle.

A resident of the 2400 block of North 62^nd Street reported that overnight someone entered two unlocked cars in his driveway and stole money, a GPS unit and an iPod music player.

Monday

A resident of the 2500 block of North 63^rd Street reported that overnight someone entered his unlocked car in his driveway and stole a GPS unit.

At 3:54 a.m., a resident of the 4700 block of North 104^th Street reported that he and his family had just returned home from a weekend vacation to find their house had been broken into. Even as they were pulling into the driveway, he said, his wife noticed a window screen ajar, and he noticed an upstairs light showing that he was sure they had not left on. The family remained outside until police arrived and cleared the house. Officers found that the burglar or burglars had actually entered through a different window in back, which had been smashed in, and had left behind some blood in the process. The only thing missing from the home was an old laptop computer that was no longer used.