Waukesha police Waukesha police.
Waukesha, Wisconsin, police say they caught multiple suspects from an “organized crime group from Illinois” after they got stuck in the mud near the railroad tracks after stealing items from Meijer.
Waukesha police wrote in a news release that officers responded to the Meijer store at about 2:50 p.m. on Wednesday, February 21, for a report of “several subjects in the store loading a garbage bag and tote with numerous over-the-counter medicines.”
The suspects fled Meijer without paying for the medications, police wrote. That’s when a pursuit ignited, eventually leading to the suspects’ vehicle getting stuck in the mud, police wrote.
“We believe this to be an organized retail theft crime group from Illinois,” Waukesha police wrote.
Here’s what you need to know:
The Suspects Were Stopped by a Train Before They Got Stuck in the Mud, Police Say
Waukesha County Courthouse FacebookWaukesha County courthouse.
According to Waukesha police, officers spotted the retail theft suspects leaving the Meijer parking lot.
“Officers quickly arrived at the store and observed the suspect vehicle leaving the parking lot,” the release says. “While in the parking lot, a Sergeant was attempting to catch up to the vehicle when he was struck by an uninvolved vehicle. The Sergeant was not injured. A second officer followed the vehicle southbound on Tenny Avenue and attempted to stop it.”
The vehicle “accelerated and a pursuit was initiated,” the release says.
The pursuit traveled 3.8 miles eventually traveling eastbound on Lawnsdale Avenue in the Village of Waukesha and was stopped by a train that was traveling northbound, says the release.
The vehicle traveled southbound along the railroad tracks and into a field, becoming stuck in mud and water, according to Waukesha police, who wrote that there were four adult occupants in the vehicle. The suspect names were not released.
The first subject to exit the vehicle was uncooperative so officers and a police K9 were deployed, Waukesha police wrote. They wrote that the police K9 apprehended the subject, who was taken into custody with no further issues. The remaining three suspects were also taken into custody.
Police wrote that all four suspects have home addresses listing to Chicago, and items in the vehicle were consistent with the items stolen from Meijer. The suspect apprehended by the police K9 was taken to the hospital for medical treatment, according to the police news release.
A Chicago Crime Ring Was Previously Accused of Stealing 9 Motor Vehicles From a Waukesha Car Dealership
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It was the second Waukesha police news release in February involving a Chicago crime ring.
On February 18, nine motor vehicles were stolen from the Jaguar/Land Rover dealership along Moreland Boulevard also in the city of Waukesha, police wrote in a different press release.
Police said that case was also an “organized crime group of teenagers from the Chicago area.”
A vehicle pursuit also ignited in that case and one of the teenagers was arrested, the release says. It notes that two of the nine vehicles were recovered. It’s not clear whether that incident and the Meijer incident are related in any way.
Surveillance video shows those masked suspects inside the dealership, according to ABC 7.
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