Suspected Jewelry Thief ID’d by Store Rewards Card

Caledonia police say a Wauwatosa woman suspected of stealing two pieces of jewelry from Milaeger’s was identified by both video surveillance and her store rewards card. 

CAPD officers say they were called at 11:05 a.m. on July 11 to Milaeger’s, 4838 Douglas Ave., for a report of a customer who stole two pieces of jewelry from behind the cashier while she checked out other items. The employee told police she was aware the pieces were behind her because the woman first asked the cashier to hold the items while she shopped for other things. 

After the woman left the store, the cashier realized the jewelry was gone so she followed the woman out of the store. When the cashier asked the woman about the jewelry, the woman denied taking the pieces and drove away, according to police reports.

Store managers showed police security video and said the woman used her store rewards card, the record for which included the woman's name, Wauwatosa address and phone number. 

Officers identified the woman and say when they contacted her about the incident, she said the pieces fell in her tomato plant. Police told her they saw otherwise on the surveillance video and gave the woman two options; to bring the items to the police station and receive a municipal citation or not return the items and get charged criminally through the Racine County District Attorney’s office.

The woman appeared at CAPD at approximately 1:15 p.m. that same day to return the jewelry. She received a municipal citation for misdemeanor retail theft and was told she was no longer welcome at Milaeger’s and would be arrested for trespassing if she visited the store again.