Category Archives: Crime

by | January 18, 2013 · 6:48 am

SWAT Team Called To South Milwaukee Home

Update: WISN is reporting two people were arrested, and the woman was found unharmed. TMJ4 is reporting the arrests were made in Milwaukee. 

South Milwaukee Police and the Milwaukee County SWAT team were called to a home on 3rd Avenue Thursday night.

Here is the press release from police:

On 1/17 at about 916pm South Milwaukee Officers were dispatched to an address in the 2400blk of 3rd Av. Regarding a female subject who was reportedly being held against her will. Milwaukee County SWAT was contacted to assist, the residence in question was searched, and the female subject has yet to be located.  – Investigation to continue.

TMJ4 also has a story and video, and it says bomb squad members were also on scene. I’ll keep you posted if I learn more.

Also, police are investigating a robbery at the BP station on 10th and Marquette Avenue in South Milwaukee Thursday night. The employee was not injured. I’ll let you know if I get more information.

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by | January 7, 2013 · 9:18 pm

More On The Recent Tire Slashings

The new NOW police blotter has details (like approximate location) on many of the recent tire slashing incidents.

Check out the story here.

I count more than 20 incidents primarily in and around downtown, give or take a few blocks, and it wasn’t just tires being slashed. Other vandalism like broken car mirrors were reported.

If you have any information on the incidents, please contact the South Milwaukee Police Department at 768-8060. And I’ll keep you posted.

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by | January 7, 2013 · 5:27 pm

Armed Robbery Reported In South Milwaukee; Gun Found In Oak Creek Sikh Temple Parking Lot

Here are details from the South Milwaukee Police Department …

On the evening of January 5th, 2013, SMPD received a call of an armed robbery  in the 800 block of Lakeview Ave.  A suspect vehicle was later observed by SMPD officers, and the vehicle was stopped in the 7500 block of Howell Ave. in Oak Creek.  A foot chase with two subjects that fled the vehicle resulted in their apprehension.  A firearm believed to have been used in the robbery was later recovered in the parking lot of the Sikh Temple.  This case remains under investigation.  It is believed all suspects have been taken into custody.

Here is coverage from Oak Creek Patch. I’ll keep you posted.

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by | January 3, 2013 · 9:14 pm

Rash Of Tire Slashings Reported

More than 40 people reported having their tires slashed in South Milwaukee and Cudahy last weekend.

From South Milwaukee Police Chief Ann Wellens:

All areas of the city were hit but predominately the center area of the city.  Occurred during the early morning hours of December 29th.  The damage was mostly tire slashings but there were a few side mirrors that were damaged.

I’ll keep you posted on both cases if and when I hear more. In the meantime, please stay vigilant, and safe. Report any suspicious behavior to police.

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by | December 15, 2012 · 10:06 pm

Arrests After Reports Of Shots Fired, Standoff In Cudahy

South Milwaukee was reportedly among the departments who responded to the incident Saturday afternoon on Packard Avenue.

Check out stories in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and WTMJ radio. From WTMJ:

It began around 8:30 Saturday morning when witnesses reported shots exchanged between two men in the alley behind the apartments in the 62-hundred block of Packard.

One man was taken in for questioning right away, but a second ran into the apartments, and holed-up inside for four hours. 

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by | December 14, 2012 · 12:14 pm

Prayers

Another mass shooting. Another senseless tragedy.

Please keep Friday’s victims and their friends and families in your thoughts and prayers. And hold your kids a bit closer tonight. I know I will … because I know that could have been my kindergartner or second-grader at the end of that gun.

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by | November 29, 2012 · 8:51 pm

Charges In South Milwaukee’s Summer Break-Ins

A 36-year-old South Milwaukee man suspected in local break-ins this summer pleaded guilty to several felonies this week.

Leonard Caruso, 401 Nicholson Ave., will be sentenced in Milwaukee County Circuit Court on Jan. 4.

Caruso was charged with seven cases of felony burglary, six in Milwaukee County, according to online court records. He was convicted of three counts after his guilty plea, with the others being “read in.”

It’s unclear which counts he pleaded guilty to and which he didn’t.

But several of the charges stemmed from these South Milwaukee cases, police told me.

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by | October 25, 2012 · 7:03 pm

Alertness Pays Off: More On How A Cat Security Guard Caught A Suspected Bank Robber

Update: Fox 6 has a story on the criminal complaint alleging the suspect “wanted to be caught.”

Oak Creek Patch has the story of Josh Najda, a Caterpillar security guard whose oberservation skills helped nab a South Milwaukee man suspected in an Oak Creek bank robbery.

Here is the story. From it:

Najda is a firefighter with the town of Vernon who was off duty at the time but listening to his police scanner about 11 a.m., when word came of a robbery of TCF Bank in Oak Creek. He heard the initial description of the suspect — a white man with thin build, wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and tan pants — and filed it away in his memory.

Later that day, he was at his job at Caterpillar’s South Milwaukee facility when he saw a person walk past his guard house and speak with a CAT employee. The man seemed nervous and made a lot of unusual movements, Najda told me. But his actions didn’t pose a threat, so Najda didn’t call police.

“Honestly, I just thought that he may have been talking to a family member,” Najda said.

It was what he did next that gave Najda pause. The man put on a fake black mustache and a pair of sunglasses, which struck Najda as weird (rightfully so, I might add). So he wrote down his exact description and tucked it into his pocket.

And the rest is history …

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by | October 22, 2012 · 5:48 pm

Report: South Milwaukee Man Arrested In Oak Creek Bank Robbery

Oak Creek Patch has the story …

According to the Oak Creek Police Department logbook, a security guard at Caterpillar’s South Milwaukee facility reported seeing a man matching the description of the suspect talking with a Caterpillar employee.

The employee told police the suspect is his roommate. A detective then went to the suspect’s South Milwaukee apartment and arrested him.

Online court records show the man, who had not been charged as of noon Monday, has open cases in Milwaukee and Racine counties for misdemeanor retail theft. He remains in Milwaukee County Jail.

Nice job, Caterpillar security guard.

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by | October 2, 2012 · 9:56 pm

Report: Charges Issued In Fatal South Milwaukee Crash

A Cudahy man has been charged in connection with a Sept. 17 crash on College Avenue near Divine Mercy School that left a passenger in his vehicle dead.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has the story. From it:

Derek J. Griebenow had consumed more than a half-gallon of beer in the hours before he blacked out at the wheel of his 2001 Pontiac Grand Am the evening of Sept. 17 and flipped near Divine Mercy School, 695 College Ave., South Milwaukee.

Jerome V. Robertson, 54, died later from injuries suffered in the crash.

According to the criminal complaint:

Griebenow woke to find to himself in the back seat of his overturned car, unable to get out, so he lighted a cigarette and called 911.

He admitted to police he’d been drinking beer all day, and had capped his day with a shot of whiskey and a beer at Brother’s Bar, where he met Robertson. Robertson, who suffered from a cognitive disability, was asking for money for food, and Griebenow offered to buy him drinks instead until other patrons gave Griebenow a hard time and he decided to take Robertson somewhere for a meal.

He said Robertson commented that he was going too slow so he “punched it” and then blacked out.

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by | October 2, 2012 · 7:33 am

Woman Charged In South Milwaukee Shooting

Update: Fox 6 has more details from the criminal complaint. NOW has more details too.

A 45-year-old South Milwaukee woman has been charged with attempted first degree intentional homicide following last week’s shooting at the South Towne Apartments.

Laura Lee Saxton, 319 Southtowne Place #101, was charged on Friday.

Her preliminary hearing is this Friday.

The victim, a 56-year-old man, was treated and released from Froedtert Hospital, police said.

From the Fox 6 report:

Saxton is accused of shooting a 56-year-old Andrew Gibas in the head in an apartment on Wednesday, September 26th.

Gibas told police Saxton is his roommate. Gibas told police he noticed on Monday, September 24th his two guns were missing — and said he questioned Saxton and her boyfriend about the guns.

Gibas told police Saxton came into his bedroom on Wednesday night and laid next to him. Gibas told police he thought that was strange because Saxton does not normally do that, and they have separate bedrooms. Gibas told police Saxton told her he was mad at him, but that he would not know why she was mad. Gibas said Saxton then shot him several times in the head.

Gibas struggled with Saxton for the gun, and tried to grab his cell phone, according to the criminal complaint in the case — but Saxton’s boyfriend grabbed the cell phone away. Gibas then ran to another apartment and called 911.

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by | September 26, 2012 · 11:13 am

More On The South Milwaukee Shooting

A 50-year-old woman is under arrest following Wednesday morning’s shooting of a 56-year-old man at the South Towne Apartments in South Milwaukee.

Check out out coverage in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Fox 6, WISN and WTMJ. Here is the press release ….

On September 26, 2012, at 1:37am, The South Milwaukee Police Department received a call of a 56 year old male who was shot at a residence on Southtowne Place in South Milwaukee.

The male was transported to Fredoert Hospital, where he is being treated.  The extent of his injuries is unknown at this time.

A 50 year old woman is in custody.

The South Milwaukee Police Department is seeking no other victims or suspects as a result of this incident.

More details will be available in the near future.

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by | September 26, 2012 · 6:35 am

Report: Shooting, Standoff In South Milwaukee

WTMJ is reporting there was a shooting and brief standoff early Wednesday morning near Southtowne Drive and College Avenue.

Here are details from the TV station. From the story:

The shooting and standoff happened at about 1:35 a.m. Wednesday near South Southtowne Drive and College Avenue. 

The victim was a 56-year-old man.  He was treated at Froedtert Hospital, and reportedly was able to assist police with information.

The arrested woman is 45 years old.

Reports have come in to Newsradio 620 WTMJ that someone was shot inside what was described as a large apartment complex, and the shooter was involved in a brief standoff with officers.

The standoff eventually ended.  Authorities evacuated neighbors from their apartments.

I’ll post more updates when I get them.

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by | September 21, 2012 · 11:15 pm

Sting Nets South Milwaukee Man Who Allegedly Had Sex With 12-Year-Old

A 19-year-old South Milwaukee man is in jail after being charged with two counts of sexual assault of a minor after police said he had sex with a 12-year-old girl — and was caught when the family of that girl set up a sting involving the suspect.

Check out the press release here. And here is WTMJ coverage of the arrest of Brock Baker.

From the release:

At this time there is no reason to believe that there were other victims, but the investigations will continue to make certain. 

The South Milwaukee Police Department would like to take this opportunity to encourage everyone to be increasingly vigilant with regard to the supervision of children in the use of all forms of internet and social media. 

I’ll keep you posted if and when I learn more.

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by | September 10, 2012 · 6:29 pm

Crime Data And More: South Milwaukee Police Department Files 2011 Annual Report

It was a busy year full of accomplishments for the South Milwaukee Police Department in 2011.

Check out a good summary of the department’s work in its 2011 Annual Report, which was received by the South Milwaukee City Council on Tuesday.

See the report here.

Among the highlights for the department last year:

  • The department received re-accreditation from the Wisconsin Law Enforcement Accreditation Group – 14 years after the department became the first one in Milwaukee County to obtain this honor. See my previous post here.
  • Police partnered with the A Child is Missing Alert Program, a nonprofit organization that assists law enforcement in the early search and recovery of missing children and the disabled and elderly. This participation allows the department to activate an alert system, sending a message via phone when needed.
  • The police department collected and safely disposed of 158 pounds of medicine as part of a program it instituted in 2010.
  • The department also upgraded its radio communications equipment in 2011, purchasing mobile and portable radios and control bases in compliance with national requirements.
  • And the department continued to serve the community through its Drug Abuse Resistance Education and bicycle safety programs. Details are in the report.

The report also includes crime data from 2011, and there is some good news there, too.

  • Total calls for service fell slightly in 2011 to 23,172, down from 23,561 a year earlier.
  • Violent crime stayed static in 2011, with 16 incidents reported, the same as in 2010.
  • Property crime was down 13.7%, with 513 incidents reported. Burglary reports fell from 119 to 77, and thefts fell from 434 to 410.
  • Arrests were down significantly, from 1,166 to 715.
  • Clearance rates improved, from 34.4% in 2010 to 36.9% in 2011.

Thanks again to all the great work our police department does … and please post your comments below.

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