Brown Deer bank robbery; Milwaukee woman sentenced, time served
Deasha Sanders
MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee woman accused in connection with an August 2023 Brown Deer bank robbery and police chase in Glendale was sentenced on Friday, May 31 to time already served.
The accused, Deasha Sanders, originally faced the following criminal counts:
- Robbery of a financial institution
- Flee or elude an officer
- Second-degree recklessly endangering safety
- Obstructing an officer
- Bail jumping (felony)
In March, the court ordered the robbery charge dismissed on a motion by the state. Then in April, Sanders pleaded guilty to obstructing an officer. The remaining charges were dismissed and read into the court record for the purposes of sentencing.
Sanders had already served 297 days in the Milwaukee County Community Reintegration Center.
Case details
According to the criminal complaint, Brown Deer police were dispatched to a report of a bank robbery at the Tri-City National Bank on W. Bradley Road shortly before 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023. A teller indicated to officers that a male, Black, "wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, white soccer pants, and a red scarf around his neck entered the bank around 1:45 p.m.," the complaint says. The complaint says the man told the teller "something along the lines of 'give this amount of money, or I will kill you.'" The teller provided the man with the money in his cash drawer and also "provided the suspect with bail money that had unique serial numbers and a GPS tracker. The subject took the money" and left the bank.
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Surveillance video showed the suspect leaving the bank and running towards a white SUV without license plates.
A short time later, the SUV was spotted by a Glendale officer who activated his lights and siren to conduct a traffic stop. But the driver of the SUV accelerated -- and a police chase began.
The complaint says the SUV "rapidly changed its speeds as it drove through construction lanes. (An officer) eventually conducted a PIT maneuver on Glendale Avenue. The Dodge Journey spun out and its front passenger fled from the vehicle. (The officer) chased the passenger and the Dodge Journey drove into his running path. (The officer) had to push off the Dodge Journey to avoid being run over." The police pursuit ended at 2:01 p.m.
Around 2:15 p.m., a woman received a call from her mother who indicated a white SUV with no plates was parked in an alley behind her residence near 48th and Capitol Drive. When the woman tried to find the owner's information, she "recovered a food benefits card with defendant Deasha Sanders' name," the complaint says. The woman reached out to Sanders via Facebook and asked her if her car was stolen. The complaint says "Sanders replied her car was stolen, but asked (the woman) not to call the police."
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Detectives staked out the vehicle after learning it was involved in the robbery. They saw a woman, later identified as Sanders, enter the vehicle and start the engine. Sanders was arrested and "officers recovered two $20 bills with serial numbers linked to the robbery," the complaint says. Sanders told police "her boyfriend stole the van the night before, and she came to pick it up," the complaint says.
Detectives recovered Ring doorbell video from a house near 48th and Capitol. It "shows Ms. Sanders wearing the exact same clothing and distinct purse as Ms. Sanders running away from the area one minute after the vehicle pursuit ended earlier in the day," the complaint says. The complaint also says officers "also located a torn piece of paper in the Dodge Journey with the words 'No dye, no GPS, or I'll kill you.'"