West Allis woman says "N" word written on her garage

WEST ALLIS -- One word changed some graffiti to a hate crime for one West Allis family.

The family says months of vandalism crossed the line into a hate crime with a single word written in marker. Dominique Carr and her two-year-old girl have lived on South 66th Street in West Allis for over a year. Carr shrugged off past vandalism, believe it was just stupid teens. Now, Carr says she feels threatened after the "N" word was written on her garage.

"Out of all the houses, how do they know I'm the only black person on the block?" Carr said.

After the graffiti appeared, Carr recalled other instances that may have been based in racism. She remembers sitting on her porch and someone yelling at her from their car to get out of the neighborhood.

Neighbor Kenneth Coleman has lived one street over from Carr for about six months. He says it has been nothing but kind words from neighbors. However, he said he has noticed groups of roaming men. "(They look like they) just got out of jail, ain't got no job. You see them always walking up and down the alleys. I'll be willing to bet you that's who did it," Coleman said.

West Allis police say they are investigating the graffiti, but at this point, it's only criminal damage to property. However, they will be looking for other instances of racism.