River Hills theft investigation, man found sleeping in stolen SUV
RIVER HILLS, Wis. - Milwaukee County prosecutors ultimately charged a man with concealing stolen property after the River Hills Police Department posted on its Facebook page that the district attorney's office would not.
The investigation began when a couple went golfing at a nearby course – only to return and find their SUV, computers and other valuables gone. Police tracked the car to Milwaukee, and the suspect was not hard to find.
Milwaukee police helped River Hills officers track the stolen Audio to a home near 25th and Greenfield the morning of July 23. There, a suspect was asleep in the driver's seat.
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"That was not what I expected," a River Hills officer is heard saying in body camera video.
More video from the incident captured Milwaukee police ordering the man, identified as 20-year-old Alan Hernandez-Meraz, out of the SUV and to not resist. Police later found the keys – and a AAA card belonging to the owner – in the Hernandez-Meraz's pants pocket.
Video from arrest of Alan Hernandez-Meraz
Police then searched the SUV and found some of the stolen items – and more.
"That's either some kind of plastic or glass or something, or like a methamphetamine," a River Hills officer said in bodycam video.
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River Hills police said a test at the station confirmed it was methamphetamine. Their report said they even found a small bag of it in Hernandez-Meraz's pocket and that he confirmed it was meth.
The department referred four criminal charges to the district attorney's office, but those charges were not so crystal clear. In a Facebook post on Aug. 10, the police department wrote prosecutors "refused to go forward with charges" before updating that post the next day – because Hernandez-Meraz was charged with possession of stolen property.
Still, Chief Deputy District Attorney Kent Lovern said his office did not decline to file charges in the case, which is still under active review. He added that the office issued the sole charge supported by evidence in the investigation.
The district attorney's office told FOX6 News its investigators are working with the River Hills Police Department to "strengthen" its investigation, hoping to bring more charges.