Got threatened with a gun today...

[adamb100]

This is my first time I've ever had any troubles in Milwaukee with regards to safety and crime. I was @ the bus stop on Lincoln and KK waiting for the Lincoln bus to come. This black teenager who's been here for a little while now walks up to me and steals my iPod (which I was using to check my UWM email) and threatened to shoot me if I made an attempt to get it back. I call the police when I get home and they tell me I have to go down there to file a report which probobly wont do any good. Now of course the bad thing here is my iPod had passwords, phone #'s and all that stuff on it and now he has access to it.

 

I know that area of Milwaukee isnt the safest but it's not terrible either. Now I'm pretty much scared for my safety if I'm ever down there...

[trwi7]

Write down as much as you remember about the guy's face or any other distinguishing features and go to the police. The sooner you go to the police, the better.

[RightFieldCoder]

Just don't expect the MPD to actually do anything, except write traffic and parking tickets.

[adamb100]

Just don't expect the MPD to actually do anything, except write traffic and parking tickets.

It's a theft, they cant really do anything about it. I would like to be reimbursed for the iPod but that wont happen.

[JoeHova]

I'm shocked to hear you got robbed on that corner, what with it usually being so busy and crowded. Did the guy actually pull out a gun or just say he had one?

[adamb100]

He didnt say he had one, he just said he'll shoot me. There were a few others witnessing it and this other guy I guess knew him and said he did have a gun (and that he goes to South Division High School).

[colbyjack]

If you know what he looks like and know that he goes to South Division HS that's a pretty good start to retrieving your iPod. It sucks that it happened, but I wouldn't pass on filing a report out of fear. As noted, the sooner you do so the better.

[GAME05]

maybe you'd better be able to remember his face if you report this quickly. i'm no officer, but isn't there some time limit as far as being able to identify someone if you report it within a certain amount of time, vs. having to go through more standard procedures of a lineup and all that stuff?

 

it sounds like the police would be able to pretty easily just get a school yearbook and you could identify the guy from that. the guy's friend certainly wouldn't rat him out, but it's too bad you didn't get the names/phone of the other witnesses there so that they'd be able to finger the guy, too.

 

still wouldn't get the ipod back, but at least something would happen to this guy. obviously can't use that bus stop again once you report the dude.

 

sure glad nothing worse happened to you beyond that.

[adamb100]

I've learned 2 things from this today:

 

Not to take anything out of my pockets at that bus stop again.

Put a lock on my iPod (so no one can see the data if it gets lost/stolen).

 

Anyway Im getting a new iPod tomorrow but I'm still pissed this happened cause of all the data that guy has access to.

[GAME05]

seems a little rash to never pull out an iPod in public again. everyone's got one, and if the dude really wanted one from someone he would have gotten it. not to mention there were other people around at the bus stop. it's a pretty isolated incident by an idiot kid and certainly not triggered by you doing anything foolish. i really hope after the shock of this wears off (understanding that may be a good while) that you won't end up losing a lot of your comfort by not doing something simple like listening to music, that you weren't exactly targeted, and that this was just an impulse action by some idiot kid.

[BrewCrewForever]

Sorry to hear about this man. Really sucks, I would hate to be in that situation ever. I hope you get the iPod back somehow and the thief gets what is coming to him.

[paul253]

Just don't expect the MPD to actually do anything, except write traffic and parking tickets.

 

I'm guessing you've gotten a few parking tickets and traffic tickets before and now seem to think that that's all they do? If it makes you feel better, the DPW are the ones who write the vast majority of the parking tickets, not MPD. Of the top of my head, I can remember 4 MPD cops that have been shot in the past year +. I'm sorry but I just really despise people that say crap like this. You obviously have no idea what the job entails.

 

Back on topic. Brewcrew I think there's a couple of things to consider here. You aren't getting your Ipod back, even if they catch the kid. You'll have to accept that. Depending on how badly you want to try to catch the kid, it may be better for you yourself to go down to South Division and find someone like the principal or AP or a school liason officer, explain your situation, and ask to see a yearbook. If you recognize the guy, you can go to MPD and say "this is the guy who did it". It pretty much means all they have to do is go find the kid. However, keep in mind that if he goes to South Division, he's probably a juvenile. Even IF he gets arrested and IF he gets convicted, which would probably be for nothing more than theft and/or disorderly conduct, you can expect punishment to be a slap on the wrist. I'm not trying to make it seem like it is a waste of time, but it may not be worth the effort.

[Invader3K]

If you know where he goes to school, you should be able to get your iPod back. Be ready to press charges for theft and assault.

 

I hope you can get this punk locked up.

[TracyThom]

Theft from person is a felony. Report the crime and get him locked up.

[1992casey]

When you say that you know that the kid has "been here for a little while now," it would seem to me that you have a really good idea who he is. As far as the data on the iPod goes, I was thinking that there would be some way to kill that remotely, but I guess the caveat would be that it would need to be logged into a network.

[JoeHova]

This is my first time I've ever had any troubles in Milwaukee with regards to safety and crime. I was @ the bus stop on Lincoln and KK waiting for the Lincoln bus to come. This black teenager who's been here for a little while now walks up to me and steals my iPod (which I was using to check my UWM email) and threatened to shoot me if I made an attempt to get it back. I call the police when I get home and they tell me I have to go down there to file a report which probobly wont do any good.

Forgive me, but I'm always curious about things like this. What exactly happened? If you don't want to say, I understand, but I'm interested in how things went down.

[adamb100]

I get off the route 15 bus @ Lincoln and KK. I take my iPod out to check my email. The black kid sits near me and is seeing what Im doing and asks to see it. I say Im busy doing stuff. 2 min later he asks to see it again. I told him I dont trust him as I knew what would happen if I gave it to him. Shortly thereafter he runs up to me and takes the iPod out of my hands. I walk over to him with a [expletive deleted] look and he's like "I'll shoot". Obviously I dont want this to get violent so I back off and the kid starts sprinting off. I then feel stunned about what just happened to me and I start to feel unsafe in the area after getting threatened.

 

This other older white guy who saw everything says he knows the kid and says he goes to South Division HS and does infact carry a pistol with him.

 

I did file a report with the MPD (only took 3 calls), officer said he'd call me back (which he hasnt yet).

 

(edit: language --1992)

[JoeHova]

I get off the route 15 bus @ Lincoln and KK. I take my iPod out to check my email. The black kid sits near me and is seeing what Im doing and asks to see it. I say Im busy doing stuff. 2 min later he asks to see it again. I told him I dont trust him as I knew what would happen if I gave it to him. Shortly thereafter he runs up to me and takes the iPod out of my hands. I walk over to him with a [expletive deleted] look and he's like "I'll shoot". Obviously I dont want this to get violent so I back off and the kid starts sprinting off. I then feel stunned about what just happened to me and I start to feel unsafe in the area after getting threatened.

That's too bad. That's a common ploy that people use to try to commit a robbery without actually threatening people (I mean, asking for something and then running off). He, of course, had to resort to snatching it and threatening you anyway. It's a shame so many people are just d-bags.

[adamb100]

So I did the report thing, a detective called me. He said the kid committed a class G felony and I'll have to go into the district this week to report it.

[jerichoholicninja]

Jeff Wagner was just talking about this sort of thing on TMJ this afternoon. I don't live in Milwaukee so I have no idea about how things like this are usually handled but from what I gathered this afternoon don't expect much help from the MPD.

[JimH5]

Glad you're safe. That's the most important thing. The 2nd most important thing is to file that police report and to change your passwords.

 

All for an iPod. What a dumb thing to steal.

[Invader3K]

If the police don't do anything, go to his school in person and talk to the principal.

[sbrylski]

P.C. Police here... I feel bad for you being in this situation and all, but does the color of the guy's skin really matter in this story?

[berniebrewer4life]

P.C. Police here... I feel bad for you being in this situation and all, but does the color of the guy's skin really matter in this story?

Since it was used as a descriptive term, i think it does. It's no different than saying a tall guy sitting next to him, or a man with a Russian accent. It helps paint a more detailed picture of what is happening.

[Bikeage77]

As a teacher in MPS, I can tell you a few things: South Division most likely doesn't have a yearbook. The kids and families can't afford them. It helps that a white kid told you this. It's sad to say that, but if I ever ask a student I know about another kid who was just interacting with, often times giving each other mp3 players or food, they all reply "I don't know him." No one wants to be seen as a snitch. There's even a descent chance that guy gave you false information, because if the theif recognizes him from school and he gets caught, snitches get stiches.

 

Did you ask the white guy at the bus stop for a name? That might not go far for the same reason above. That was your best shot to catch him.

 

What time of day did this happen? The student could very well be a truant and never goes to school, and can be one of probably 1/3 of the schools population who are regular truants.

 

In an event like this, you would almost have been better off if he actually pulled the gun. My friends were playing a poker game on the east side when three african american teenagers saw one of my friends leave when after he lost his chips. All three with guns. While one held my friend captive, the other two walked in and demanded everyones phone, and wallets. While one collected everybody's stuff, another friend of mine was forced to the ground with a gun to his head. After filing reports, a few days later the three were caught and are now in serious jeopardy of their future (as they should be). This was all over a fluke incident where most likely they heard my friends through the screen windows and pounced on the first opportunity to get in.

 

 

With more incidents that your thief has, he will likely get caught, but his sentence would be much greater if a gun was actually involved.