Judge drops armed robbery charge against Sean Harvey, headed to trial on three other charges



MILWAUKEE -- A Milwaukee County court commissioner dropped one of four felony charges against 23-year-old Sean Harvey during Harvey's preliminary hearing on Friday, August 21st.

Sean Harvey



Harvey faced multiple charges, including armed robbery, operating a motor vehicle without owner’s consent, possession of a firearm by a felon and possession with intent to deliver cocaine. It was the armed robbery charge that got dropped.

Commissioner Barry Phillips dismissed the robbery charge because he felt there wasn't enough evidence presented in court Friday to find probable cause. It's not clear if prosecutors will try to resubmit the charge at Harvey's arraignment.

According to the criminal complaint, Harvey approached a car in the area of 51st and Vliet St. of Milwaukee around 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, July 16th.

“He knocked on the window, and I rolled it down a bit,” the victim in this case said.

The victim was parking the car after dropping her husband off for a senior softball game at Wick Field.

Officials say Harvey apparently asked the woman if she had any change. She said she did not — and didn’t even have her purse. At that point, the complaint indicates Harvey “opened the passenger door and entered (the woman’s) vehicle.”

“He kept asking me for money. All of a sudden he just slammed that door open and came in light lightning — pulled a gun out and said ‘give me those keys or I will kill you.’ I gave him the keys and continued to get out of the car. He took off like a bat — squealed the tires and took off,” the victim said.

The victim’s purse and keys were in the vehicle. Authorities believe the suspect had an accomplice nearby.

Within a half hour, the complaint indicates someone attempted to access the victim’s checking account via telephone. The bank officials reported a “male was pretending to be a woman and stated that he had a sore throat, which is why his voice sounded manly. The male also stated that he had Alzheimer’s which is why he could not answer (the victim’s) security questions.” The bank did not allow any transaction to take place.

The criminal complaint says the car that was stolen also contained the keys to a second vehicle owned by the victim. Around 11:30 a.m., police showed up at the victim’s home — and she indicated her second car was missing.

“Within 45 minutes or so that they’d taken the first car, they had the second car. That’s how fast they worked,” the victim said.

That second car was later located — but Harvey fled from police and was able to get away.

The cars were used in what's believed to be a troubling trend in Milwaukee -- rolling drug houses.

"They know there are garages in the neighborhood that these guys take these cars to, redo them, tint the windows -- put on temporary plates," said the victim.

It was a rough pill to swallow, until a break in the case. Two weeks later, Harvey was arrested. He was found at his mother's home with drugs and a weapon.

Authorities say they were able to pinpoint his phone to the scene of the crime.

Friday morning, August 21st, Commissioner Barry Phillips dismissed the robbery charge because he felt there wasn't enough evidence presented in court to find probable cause. It's not clear if prosecutors will try to resubmit the charge at Harvey's arraignment.

"He's involved in so much stuff, I can't believe it got dropped. Especially what I'm told he's done it before," said the victim.

The victim is shocked, but it's not all bad news. The victim says a second man, 22-year-old Broderick Moore is also now charged with the crime -- his armed robbery charge still stands.

Harvey is not off the hook yet, he still faces felony charges. Harvey will be back in court to enter a plea to the remaining three charges on August 25th.

The victim did recover both of her stolen cars -- she says they are trashed.