11 arrested in connection with armed robbery spree that spanned three counties
MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- Milwaukee police, with the help of several law enforcement agencies, executed multiple search warrants on Wednesday, March 11th and arrested 11 suspects wanted in connection with an armed robbery spree that spanned three counties.
These suspects are believed to be responsible for more than a dozen armed robberies in Milwaukee County, Waukesha County, and Racine County -- with most taking place in District Two on Milwaukee’s south side.
Police say these suspects started their crime spree in late fall of 2014 with their crimes stretching into January of 2015.The suspects used different members and vehicles to conceal their patterns and spread their crime spree throughout southeastern Wisconsin. Police say this robbery crew is connected to a group of Spanish Cobra gang members imprisoned in 2013. During the execution of search warrants Wednesday, evidence related to the robberies and firearms were recovered.
"The concealed identities pushed investigative hands to rely on DNA, video and interrogations and communications with several jurisdictions," Milwaukee Police Captain Alfonso Morales said.
Waukesha police tell FOX6 News taken into custody in this case are the suspected members of a robbery crew that are alleged to have robbed the Sky Zone in Pewaukee on December 27th.
Greenfield police say this same group of suspects is believed to be responsible for three robberies in Greenfield in 2014.
Of the 11 suspects taken into custody, five are males and six are females, ranging in age from late teens to early 20s. Ten of the suspects were arrested in the city of Milwaukee and one was arrested in Waukesha County. All of the suspects are being held on state charges. MPD is working with the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office and federal indictments may be sought.
Officials from the Milwaukee Police Department, Racine Police Department, Greenfield Police Department, the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department, the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office, the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office, the FBI, and Wisconsin HIDTA took part in the operation.
The suspects arrested in this case are believed to be responsible for the following robberies:
"I seen two guys come into the restaurant with two guns. Scary. Really afraid that something could happen to my employees," Fiesta Garibaldi owner Valdemar Escobar said.
Escobar says robbers took $2,000 from his register and held several of his employees at gunpoint. He didn't know this at the time, but this robbery was part of a much larger scheme.
"The suspects are believed to be responsible for more than a dozen armed robberies in Milwaukee County, Waukesha County and Racine County. They targeted small businesses. This off-shoot, this robbery crew, only a couple of them were Cobra gang members but they were connected to a robbery crew that were Cobras that were taken into custody and imprisoned in 2013," Captain Morales said.
"This is a good day for the people who live on the south side of Milwaukee," Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said of the arrests.