"We are going to keep doing this:" Men charged in string of armed robberies targeting auto stores

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- Two Milwaukee men have been charged in connection with a string of armed robberies targeting mainly auto stores, that have been occurring since March.

Charged are 19-year-old Deshae Lane and 18-year-old Jacques White.

A criminal complaint against Lane and White says between March 30th and June 2nd, 12 separate auto parts stores were robbed at gunpoint by either two or three masked suspects.

In addition, a Domino's Pizza and a Subway restaurant were robbed, and an employee of the Domino's restaurant was shot.

The complaint says all of these robberies shared very similar details -- from the time and point of entry/exit, to the descriptions of the suspects and vehicles.

Deshae Lane

Milwaukee police were able to develop Lane and White as suspects in these robberies, and the complaint says Lane confessed to his involvement in seven of the incidents.

According to the criminal complaint issued against Lane and White, in most of the incidents, two or three suspects would enter the stores targeted at closing time -- and one of the suspects would be armed.

The complaint indicates the suspects would demand money from the store's cash registers and safes -- and once they were able to obtain the money -- they would flee the stores.

The suspects are accused of committing the following armed robberies:

The criminal complaint says during this incident, an employee of the Domino's Pizza store suffered a gunshot wound to his leg.

That very same Tuesday, an officer conducted a traffic stop in the 6700 block of W. Mill Road -- on a vehicle with no plates.

The vehicle was driving away from the Batteries Plus store that had just been robbed.

The complaint says there were three black men inside the vehicle.

The car was later determined to be registered to Deshae Lane.

Lane eventually admitted to police he and White were in the vehicle, and were leaving the Batteries Plus store, according to the complaint.

The complaint says Lane told police White entered the store armed with a .40 caliber pistol.

The complaint says Lane told police he left the store with two battery packs and the money.

The complaint says Lane denied committing this robbery -- saying he has friends that work at the store.

The complaint indicates during this robbery, three store employees fled the store, fearing the store was about to be robbed.

The complaint indicates during this robbery, one suspect indicated he still had plenty of cash "from the last time they robbed the store."

That same suspect, according to the complaint, started acting "goofy" -- dancing around and saying "The cops are going to think I'm goofy when they see this tape."

The complaint indicates during this robbery, one of the suspects spoke of a previous robbery at the store -- saying "They gave us money and we hit it. Everyone went home happy."

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On Friday, June 6th, around 8:00 p.m., police were conducting surveillance in the 5600 block of N. 64th Street.

The criminal complaint against Lane and White says police were able to observe White pull up in the parking lot adjacent to a residence.

Jacques White

The complaint says White pulled the license plate on the car up and out of view, and then changed into all dark clothing. He then pulled the car around to the driveway of the home, and Lane entered the vehicle.

The complaint says an unknown subject handed Lane a pair of blue jeans. Lane then went back into the house, and returned with a pair of black jeans -- that he handed to White.

Lane got back into the vehicle, and the car pulled out of the driveway. The car drove to a gas station and returned around 8:30 -- parking in a business lot adjacent to the home.

The complaint says Lane exited the car, and retrieved a pair of black gloves from a vehicle parked in the driveway of the home on N. 64th Street.

Lane returned to the car, and it headed to the area of Appleton Avenue and Silver Spring Drive -- where the complaint says, surveillance was briefly lost.

At 8:53 p.m. that night, the car was located in the lot of an apartment building on W. Appleton Avenue -- just east of the O'Reilly Auto Parts store on W. Silver Spring Drive.

The complaint says a dirt path leads from that lot, through foliage, to the store.

At 8:59 p.m., the complaint says officers spotted two subjects, dressed in dark clothing, headed for the O'Reilly Auto Parts store -- taking the dirt path there.

The complaint says both subjects entered the store -- the second subject locking the door behind him.

The complaint says they were wearing black sweatshirts with the hood up, black pants and a white bandanna or mask covering the lower portion of their faces.

The complaint says a customer tried to enter the store and noticed the doors were locked. Shortly thereafter, the subjects exited the store and headed back up the dirt path.

Officers followed the suspect vehicle from W. Appleton Avenue to the area of N. 97th and Silver Spring. There, the complaint says the suspects stopped, and pulled the vehicle's license plate back into view.

The complaint says they headed back to the home on N. 64th Street -- and pulled into the driveway.

There, they were met by marked and unmarked squad cars.

The complaint indicates the vehicle's occupants, Lane and White, threw a black, .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun out the front, passenger side of the vehicle. The gun was loaded with nine rounds of ammunition.

The complaint says White was driving, and Lane was the passenger.

The two were taken into custody.

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During the robbery of the O'Reilly Auto Parts store on Friday, June 6th, the complaint says there was a little boy inside the store -- between the ages of 10 and 12.

The complaint indicates the little boy went the wrong way when the suspects were ordering employees and customers to get behind the register, and the suspect told him to "get back over there."

The complaint indicates an employee was ordered to open all of the registers, and when she told the suspect she only had one key, the suspect said "The other manager opened all the registers for me."

The complaint says one suspect walked her back to the office -- where another suspect was seated on the safe.

The complaint says the suspect seated on the safe was playing with a new video camera that hadn't yet been installed -- saying "When are you guys going to get your cameras installed?"

The complaint says when the employee said "I don't know," the suspect said "Until y'all do, we are going to keep doing this."

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The criminal complaint in this case says police recovered a Smith & Wesson, 9mm semi-automatic handgun with several magazines and ammunition, one of the stolen battery packs, a black double rifle/shotgun, two magazines loaded with 10, pink shotgun shells, and a black AK-47 frame Catamount Fury semi-automatic shotgun with a 20" barrel when they executed a search warrant on the resident at N. 64th Street -- where the suspects were taken into custody.