Two Waukesha women were charged July 24 with burglary of a building and felony theft, allegedly breaking into a Waukesha Taco John's last fall and stealing thousands of dollars.
According to the criminal complaint:
Waukesha City Police were dispatched Friday, Oct. 12 to the restaurant at 317 North Grand Ave., after receiving reports of a burglary.
Store manager Dusty May Stiefel said she came into work that morning and discovered the safe was missing $3,245. She said that she suspected that former employee Larissa DeLaPaz, 19, was involved in the theft. She said that DeLaPaz had recently been fired.
Police learned that two different security codes were used to enter and exit the building without sounding an alarm. A manager told police that she did not know who committed the robberies, but said that every employee had access to the store's security codes.
Police were contacted in May by DeLaPaz's boyfriend Nathanyel Kiefer, who was at that time was being held in Waukesha County Jail for battery and bail jumping. Kiefer told police that he had information about the burglary, claiming that DeLaPaz had told him she had committed the burglary with her cousin Paige Hannan.
DeLaPaz admitted to police that her and Hannan, 20, had broke into the restaurant. She said that it originally started as a joke, but became serious when DeLaPaz mentioned she still had keys and a security code for the business.
DeLaPaz said that the women split the cash, $1,200 a piece. An additional $500 was set aside to be used for Hannan's cat.