Oconomowoc suspect convicted bank robber

OCONOMOWOC, Wis. - An Elkhorn man on supervision for a 2015 bank robbery was arrested in Lake Delton following a days-long manhunt in connection to two Oconomowoc armed robberies, including a bank, and the alleged theft of two vehicles.

Kaia Mueller, 44, was arrested by Lake Delton police Wednesday night. Police say Mueller is the suspect in a strong-armed robbery, car theft and later robbery at a Waukesha State Bank branch several blocks away Tuesday afternoon, and another.

Mueller remains in custody in the Sauk County jail.

It was shortly before 1 p.m. Tuesday, June 29, that Oconomowoc police were dispatched to the area near W. Second and S. Franklin Streets for a possible armed robbery. Police said as officers were en route, a second call came in for a vehicle theft about a block away near Second and Main. 

A short time later a hold up alarm at Waukesha State Bank, nearly three miles to the south near Highway 67 and Oconomowoc Drive, and the person involved in the first two incidents matched the description of the person involved in the bank robbery.

Summit police made a traffic stop on a vehicle, which crashed off of westbound Interstate 94 near Golden Lake Road. The driver ran off into the woods.

The interstate was shut down for hours as police searched for the man, causing backups that stretched miles. Deputies in tactical gear and long guns also blocked streets in the area as the search for the suspect continued into the evening.

Several hours after the robbery calls came in, police got word that a car was stolen off of Valley View Road in Oconomowoc – the vehicle police believe the suspect used as a getaway car.

Police later identified Mueller as the suspect in the strong-armed robbery and bank robbery.

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Wednesday evening, police were called to a hit-and-run crash near State Highway 67 and Valley View Road. The vehicle involved matched the description of the suspect vehicle, which was last seen heading east on Oconomowoc Parkway, possibly along the bike path.

Oconomowoc police said Thursday it was later learned that Mueller was in Sauk County.

Lake Delton police say an officer spotted Mueller’s vehicle in the area of Munroe Avenue just east of I-90/94 shortly before 11:30 p.m. Wednesday and pulled the vehicle over. Mueller was arrested in the parking lot of the nearby Malibu Inn on Munroe Avenue without incident.

2016 robbery in Whitewater

In 2016, Mueller was sentenced to four years in prison, and four years of extended supervision after pleading guilty to a January 2015 robbery of a Whitewater credit union. However, court filings show a Walworth County judge ordered that period of initial confinement changed to extended supervision in 2017.

Mueller was charged with robbing the Fort Community Credit Union, near the intersection of Milwaukee and Wisconsin in Whitewater, on Jan. 21, 2015. Court filings say surveillance video showed a man – later identified as Mueller – walk through the main doors, approach the teller and place a black bag on the counter. The teller told investigators Mueller said he had a gun, and to put the money in the bag.

A co-worker of Mueller’s identified the truck used in the robbery as belonging to his uncle, who runs an Elkhorn lawn care service, and Mueller used the truck on the day of the robbery.

During a search his home, filings say police found notes written by the Mueller, describing his financial problems. His wife also told police her husband admitted to robbing a bank, used a "fake weapon," that Mueller has a gambling problem and lost the money stolen in the robbery at a casino.

Court records show Mueller also has a 2006 felony drug conviction out of Hawaii where he was sentenced to five years in prison.

Mueller has not yet been charged in connection to the alleged Oconomowoc robberies.