Woman Burglarized Grandmother's House, Stole Checks to Buy Drugs: Police

An Oak Creek woman broke into her grandmother’s house, stole her checkbook and racked up nearly $3,000 in fraudulent charges to buy narcotics, court document say.

The 23-year-old woman, Patch is not identifying to protect the identity of the victim, was charged June 21 in Milwaukee County Circuit Court with felony burglary and misdemeanor theft. If convicted, she could face up to 13 years and three months imprisonment, $35,000 in fines, or both.

Police say the owners of a home in the 1100 block of East Mackinac Avenue were on vacation March 10 and had their son watching the place. The son went over on March 16 and saw no signs of forced entry, the criminal complaint says, but later that day he noticed the back door was broken.

The homeowners initially didn’t find anything missing but later noticed a box of checks missing from a dresser. The owner looked in their bank accounts and found checks written to their granddaughter totaling $2,720, and others written to another woman, court documents say. 

During questioning with the suspect told police she drove to her grandmother’s house with some friends, the criminal complaint said. A man named “Josh” pried open doors to the home with a crowbar and stole the checks. She then used them to get cash to buy Suboxone, which she addicted to. While visiting her grandmother’s on March 11, she told police she also stole checks and wrote them out to her friend, the court documents say. 

The suspect is due in court July 10 for a preliminary court hearing, according to online court documents.