Two Teens Caught in Theft of Parent's Jeep

After a lengthy chase through Fox Point, a Whitefish Bay and Glendale teen were cited after stealing a jeep and rummaging through a Fox Point garage.

At 7 p.m. Jan. 8, a woman in the 200 block of West Indian Creek Court in Fox Point returned home to find a young man running down her driveway from the open garage, jump into a Jeep and take off.

According to the report, the driver of the Jeep actually waved to the homeowner as she drove into the driveway. After the teen took off, she went into the garage and noticed the passenger-side door of her husband's car was ajar. A leather wallet with no money in it was missing from the car.

While a Fox Point officer was interviewing the woman, a dispatcher told officers that Glendale police had located the Jeep in the parking lot of Coventry Court Apartments in Glendale, but there was no one inside.  

Officers then brought in Boomer, a member of the Glendale K9 unit to conduct a search, however, neither teen was found.  

After taking the Jeep back to the Fox Point station, police found a cell phone, a marijuana grinder, an iPod, 0.22-caliber shot shell rounds, bank records, a clear plastic container with tools that had a piece of tape with a name handwritten on it. Other paperwork in the vehicle showed a last name which did not match the name of the registered owner who lives on Lake View Drive in Whitefish Bay.

Officers went to the home of the registered owner, who told police they noticed the Jeep was missing sometime between 9 and 9:30 a.m. that day. They said their son had been working on the car, trying to get it running, but believed he hadn’t left the house that evening.

They brought their son to the Fox Point station the next day for questioning. The 16-year-old admitted to police his involvement in the incident, implicating his friend, a 16-year-old from Glendale, as the individual who was seen running down the driveway.

Because the Whitefish Bay teen was cooperative, police only cited him for driving without a license.

Officers went to the Glendale teen's home and spoke with the father who agreed to bring him into the station for questioning.

The Glendale teen came to the Fox Point station and kept denying involvement, saying he didn’t know what officers were talking about. About 20 minutes after he got to the station, officers put him in cuffs and told him he was under arrest for burglary. As soon as the cuffs went on, he said, "Take the cuffs off me ... I want to get this done and tell you guys everything."

He admitted to driving around with the Whitefish Bay teen and corroborated the other teens' statement.

He was charged with misdemeanor criminal trespass to property and theft. He faces a possible total of $20,000 in fine and up to 18 months in jail for Criminal Trespass to Dwelling and Theft.