The Family That Steals Together...

As family affairs go, this was not well-planned nor a success. But at least these close-knit relatives stuck together, for whatever it was worth.

At 6:01 p.m. Sunday, a 32-year-old Milwaukee woman, her 18- and 16-year-old daughters and another 16-year-old Milwaukee girl who police said was related to them were arrested for retail theft at at Mayfair Mall.

The mother and older daughter resisted arrest, and the 18-year-old bit and kicked an arresting officer, resulting in additional charges of battery and obstructing an officer against her.

Police had been called after a Macy's loss-prevention agent watched the four spend 45 minutes selecting a large number of items throughout the store's clothing departments and repeatedly enter fitting rooms, leaving without returning any clothing to the floor or in the changing rooms.

The four were stopped as they tried to leave the store. The mother had bagged 23 articles of clothing worth almost $600, and one 16-year-old had another bag with $170 worth of items.

The four apparently cooperated with store employees, returning without resistance to the loss-prevention office and each admitting their parts in the attempted thefts. But when police officers arrived and tried to arrest the mother, she began yelling and fighting back.

In his report, one of two officers present said that the woman seemed to be trying to urge the others to resist as well, and it quickly became chaotic with six people yelling in a small room.

Her older daughter then attacked and tried to punch the second officer, leading the first to take her to the floor. When he tried to handcuff her, she bit him on the wrist, leaving a deep mark, and kicked him in the shin.

After the other three suspects were booked for theft, the injured officer went to the hospital to have his wounds checked, and the young woman who bit him was taken along to be tested for communicable diseases. She had a number of prior arrests for battery and disorderly conduct, and one for retail theft.