Crime & Safety
Last Burglary Report from Highlands for Awhile? We Can Hope
A burglary last week in the Washington Highlands has come to light, but only after police catch a suspect who may have been involved in a rash of crime.
With the news Monday that a likely serial burglar hitting the Washington Highlands has been arrested, it can be hoped that one more break-in report from a week ago will be among the last for awhile.
A Highlands home was broken into on July 14, the same day another burglary occurred, in which keys and and a car were stolen from a different residence in the east-side subdivision (the second such incident).
In this case, police were called at 10 p.m. to a home in the 6200 block of Washington Boulevard by a resident who said that some time since noon her house had been broken into, with property stolen.
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The woman said she'd been out with her boyfriend and returned home to find that someone had tried first to break in through the milk delivery chute, having opened it, reached in and pulled away several pieces of insulation blocking the opening.
Failing in that attempt, the burglar or burglars found a key hidden outdoors and let themselves in. The entry key was left behind by the perpetrator.
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Gone was a laptop computer, a video game system and a Social Security card belonging to the victim.
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Police had no suspects and little evidence at the time of the crime, but an 18-year-old now suspected in a number of area burglaries was arrested at about 5 p.m. Sunday after he was spotted in the Highlands and chased by Wauwatosa officers into the Washington Heights neighborhood of Milwaukee.
The teenager jumped a fence into a resident's back yard where a party was in progress, according to citizen and police reports, and one man there, apparently the homeowner, fired a number of shots at him with a pistol.
According to Milwaukee police, the first shots were fired in the back yard, but the shooter also chased the burglary suspect out of the yard and kept firing.
The 45-year-old Milwaukee man is also under arrest and is expected to be charged, although Milwaukee police did not say what the charges might be.
Wauwatosa police said the teenage burglary suspect was possibly involved in some of a number of burglaries that have been committed in the Highlands area recentlyGet more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.