Familiar face leads to theft, drug possession arrests

Two Milwaukee men, including one who has been arrested more than 30 times as an adult, were arrested for retail theft during a traffic stop on Mayfair Road, according to a Wauwatosa police report.

Also in the report:

An officer pulled over the vehicle in the 700 block of North Mayfair Road about 5:50 p.m. Friday after noticing the registration tag was worn out and discolored.

The officer recognized the 40-year-old driver from previous arrests. The man has been arrested 32 times as an adult, including for numerous retail thefts in Wauwatosa.

The passenger, a 52-year-old man, was found to have 3 grams of cocaine on him. He had been previously arrested for cocaine possession.

During a search of the vehicle, officers found six jars of hair gel, Tide detergent packages and cocaine and methamphetamine at-home urine tests. The items were not in shopping bags and there was no receipt.

Also found in the vehicle were a computer, two cell phones, a hand-held videogame system, an industrial knife and various smaller items. The Tide and drug tests were identified as having been taken from Walgreens, 2275 N. Mayfair Road. Video surveillance shows the two men bending down and selecting items before leaving the store at 4:16 p.m. April 13. It was discovered that the laptop computer had been taken from Milwaukee PC.

A Milwaukee PC technician provided police with witness descriptions.

The 40-year-old man was arrested for retail theft and the 52-year-old man was arrested for being party to a crime, theft and possession of cocaine.