On Tuesday, May 15, the South Milwaukee City Council recognized local law enforcement and citizens for their work in serving our community, keeping us safe, and saving lives.
I’m recapping those stories on South Milwaukee Blog. Here is today’s story …
Officer Jon Rivamonte
Merit Award
On June 15, 2017, the South Milwaukee Police Department was dispatched to the Aldi grocery store at 3105 S. Chicago Avenue for a report of an armed robbery. The business had been robbed by a single male suspect, armed with a handgun. He fled before officers arrived. Over the next several months, the same suspect committed robberies of other Aldi grocery stores in Greenfield, Oconomowoc, Brookfield, Madison and Merrillville, Indiana. He even returned to South Milwaukee in November 2017 and attempted to rob the Aldi store for the second time.
During the course of several months, Investigator Jon Rivamonte worked diligently to coordinate efforts with the other affected jurisdictions. He and other detectives developed a suspect and utilized GPS tracking technology to surveille the suspect and gather additional evidence. Working with several agencies, including the FBI, search warrants were executed in South Milwaukee, Cudahy and Milwaukee. On December 8th, 2017, the thirty-year-old suspect was taken into custody and conveyed to the South Milwaukee Police Department. During the ensuing interrogation, Investigator Rivamonte was able to obtain a confession to all seven of the robberies, including both incidents in South Milwaukee.
Hiram Graham was charged in Federal Court and is facing a possible life sentence for violations of the Hobbs Act. This crime spree may have continued if not for the tireless work of Investigator Rivamonte. His persistence in following every lead, his diligence in the collection of evidence and his skillful interview of a dangerous criminal led to the successful resolution of a crime spree affecting numerous communities. The citizens of South Milwaukee are truly safer today because of the work of Investigator Rivamonte and he is therefore presented with a Merit Award for actions leading to the arrest of this dangerous felon.
Congratulations, Officer Rivamonte!
South Milwaukee Blog 
Great detective work! Thanks for sharing this with our community.👍
Great job!
Technical question, Eric – What happened to your post on Officer Hill’s award? I send the link to someone who would be interested and it no longer works.
I mistakenly posted it early and took it down. It is going back up tomorrow morning.