5 in custody after break-in at Racine Hyundai; officer hurt trying to stop stolen vehicle released from hospital
RACINE COUNTY -- Five teens are in custody after Milwaukee police recovered two vehicles stolen from a Sturtevant car dealership on Wednesday morning, July 13th. Four of those teens were arrested in an incident Wednesday evening that left one officer injured.
"I noticed several teenagers going through my neighbor`s yard across the alley," said Andrea Wehr, witness.
Andrea Wehr
It was enough to get Wehr's attention Wednesday evening, but she went back to grilling in her yard near 75th and Burleigh.
"All of a sudden they start running toward me and they split up in the alley and one of them ran through my other neighbor's yard and I started yelling at him," said Wehr.
Wehr says an officer was chasing those teens. She went out front to see what happened.
"I realized a car crashed into the pole down at this end of the street and teenagers had run from the scene and a police officer got hurt, unfortunately," said Wehr.
Milwaukee police say the 51-year-old officer was dragged by a car stolen hours earlier, from a dealership in Sturtevant. Four teens ran from the car while it was still moving. The officer was trying to stop it when it hit a light pole.
"There were a bunch of cop cars. The ambulance came, the fire truck came," said Wehr.
Earlier on Wednesday, Milwaukee police found the other car stolen from the Sturtevant dealership near 64th and Keefe.
A 16-year-old was taken into custody.
Police say with help from neighbors, they were able to arrest the four teens near 75th and Burleigh -- bringing the total number of teenagers in custody in connection with the Sturtevant dealership break-in to five.
"They're caught and I was glad about that," Wehr said.
Milwaukee police say the injured officer has been released from the hospital and is recovering at home.
Mount Pleasant police say they're looking into whether the five teens in custody are connected to other dealership break-ins in Racine County.
Break-in at Racine Hyundai
The Sturtevant break-in was the fourth car dealership break-in to occur along Highway 20 since July 4th. Ford, Dodge and Toyota dealerships have all fallen victim: