Walgreens' Capitol Store Subjected to Multiple Doses of Trouble

The Walgreens store on Capitol Drive in Wauwatosa has been the target of more than its share of trouble lately, and two incidents days apart over the long New Year's weekend didn't help matters.

Police were called on Dec. 28 to the Walgreens at 10800 W. Capitol Dr. on a report of a theft from a cash register.

A cashier said she had heard a noise that sounded like a cash drawer being manipulated and looked around to see a man crouched behind the cosmetics counter with the register open.

She said she ran to tell her manager and to call the police and then saw the suspect running out of the store.

Video footage showed the man using some sort of small prying tool to break into the register. The suspect is described as black with a dark complexion, 47 to 52 years old, 5-feet 6- or 7-inches tall and weighing 130 to 150 pounds. He was wearing all dark blue clothing, including a Dallas Cowboys jacket with a large white star on the back.

A police report on Dec. 7 was almost identical, with a similar suspect doing exactly the same – prying open and rifling the cosmetics counter drawer while no one was looking.

The Capitol Walgreens was also the scene of a theft last month that involved a suspect brandishing a knife, who was later arrested.

Police were called there again on Dec. 31  on a report of a burglary after store managers arrived at about 6:30 a.m. to find an alarm tripped and cartons of cigarettes missing.

For reasons unknown, the alarm company had not called either Walgreens managers or the police. The store’s front door glass had been smashed out in a November burglary and the storefront again sustained major damage when a car crashed into the building.

The doors were still boarded up with plywood, and the burglar in this case was able to break a hole through the lower wooden panel and crawl inside.

The suspect is seen on surveillance video at 4:01 a.m. going to the checkout counter, reaching over, and taking 10 cartons of cigarettes worth $650 retail.

At least four other recent Walgreens store burglaries in the area shared some similarities to this break-in.

Police found a claw hammer on a window ledge outside the store, which was believed to have been used to smash through the plywood panel.