On the corner of N. 87th Street and W. Melvina Street in Milwaukee, Saturday morning sounded like a body shop. Neighbors were out with brooms, trash bags and rolls of tape, sweeping up shattered glass and sealing busted car windows with plastic after what residents said was a string of overnight break-ins that damaged about a dozen vehicles. With a winter storm on the way, people on the block rushed to slap together temporary fixes before rain and snow could soak their car interiors, according to TMJ4.
Surveillance footage from a Ring camera showed a person with a flashlight getting into a car just before 5:30 a.m., then moving along the street and stopping beside parked vehicles before driving off. Residents told reporters that roughly a dozen cars were hit, sparking an afternoon-long scramble for plastic sheeting, tape and any kind of quick repair, as reported by TMJ4.
Neighbors Step In With Tape, Plastic And Teamwork
Once people realized how many cars had been hit, the block turned into a mini workshop. Jake Anderson, an EMT, said he grabbed “some plastic from Ace Hardware” and helped wrap a neighbor’s damaged window, Anderson told TMJ4. Another resident, Casey Morris, said nothing appeared to have been taken from his car, but he pointed out that getting proper repairs before the storm would be tough for families trying to juggle work, childcare and now surprise car damage.
Similar Break-In Spree Reported Across Town
Residents elsewhere in Milwaukee have been dealing with similar scenes. In recent weeks, TV crews have found multiple cars with smashed windows in Bay View and nearby neighborhoods, a pattern that has neighbors on edge, as reported by WISN. That station also noted that window replacement can cost several hundred dollars, leaving many people resorting to taped plastic and other temporary fixes while they figure out how to pay for real repairs.
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