Entrepreneurial Intent: Man Says He Stole Snow Blower to Start a Business

A 25-year-old Wauwatosa man is facing charges that he burglarized a garage in October, stealing a snow blower that he said he intended to use to start a neighborhood business.

Not only did he have a flawed business plan, he picked a bad winter, and now his career goal as a private contractor is on public hold.

Patrick Ryan Christensen was charged Friday in Milwaukee County Circuit Court with one count of burglary and one count of attempted theft. If convicted, he faces nearly 13 years in prison and $30,000 in fines.

According to the criminal complaint:

On Oct. 22, the owner of a house in the 1400 block of North 65^th Street reported that someone had broken into his garage and stolen a snow blower, a bicycle, golf clubs and some alcohol. The home had been unoccupied due to a house fire at the time of the burglary.

On Jan. 2, police interviewed Christensen about the burglary after some of the stolen items were found inside a storage shed on his parent’s property. Christensen told police he stole the snow blower because he was going to start a snow removal business in the neighborhood and already had the flyers made.

He also admitted to taking the bicycle and said he “may” have taken the alcohol, but denied taking the golf clubs.

Eight days after that interview with police, a man in the 8400 block of Kenyon Avenue . When he asked him what he was doing, Christensen apologized and said he was looking for loose change to buy cigarettes.

He then jumped out and ran, but the owner of the truck chased him across the street, tackled him and held him down until police arrived.

The victim discovered that some pills had been taken from his truck, which were later found inside a backpack Christensen had tossed onto a lawn during the chase. When police asked him about the pills, he denied knowing how they got in the backpack.

He also had several items of women's jewelry and a used marijuana grinder in the backpack. The jewelry could not at the time be traced to any theft.

Police said that he made statements implicating him in two other unsolved incidents, and he had been after he was reported as being drunk and disorderly.

Christensen will make his initial appearance in court Feb. 10.