Two charged with breaking into Laundromat change machine
Two 26-year-old men have been charged with breaking into a change machine at a Waukesha laundry mat last November, allegedly making off with approximately $1,000 in cash.
Waukesha resident James J. Kelleher and Milwaukee resident Daniel P. Ryan were each charged on March 28 in Waukesha County Circuit Court with entry into a locked coin box and misdemeanor theft. Kelleher was also charged with criminal damage to property, a misdemeanor.
City of Waukesha police were dispatched to the North Street Station Laundromat, 511 E. North St., on Nov. 24 to investigate a reported theft.
Owner Carl Cole told police that two white males wearing hooded sweatshirts broke into a change machine at the Laundromat using what appeared to be a screwdriver. They took an estimated $1,000 in cash and fled. Cole provided police with surveillance footage of the robbery.
Officers identified who they believe to be Kelleher based on a Corona logo on the back of one suspect's hooded sweat shirt. Milwaukee police told an investigating detective that they had previously arrested Kelleher wearing a similar sweatshirt while breaking into a coin machine in Milwaukee. The Waukesha detective contacted Kelleher at Franklin Correctional Facility where he was on probation hold, but Kelleher refused to give a formal statement.
Kelleher also allegedly said he had a heroin problem and no job at the time.
The detective contacted Ryan, another suspect in the crime, who told police in a statement that it was Kelleher's idea to rob the Laundromat. He said that he drove Kelleher there and only received $20 in gas money.
If convicted, Kelleher could face more than two years in prison, $30,000 in fines, or both. Ryan could face up to a year and six months in prison, $20,000 in fines, or both.
They are expected to make an initial appearance in court on April 15.
Compiled by Steve Garrison
Cemetery staff uneasy after visitor
Waukesha - A man in his 30s upset staff at the Prairie Home Cemetery in Waukesha after inquiring about Indian burial mounds in the cemetery and "glaring" at employees when they told him they did not.
The man came into the funeral home, at 605 S. Prairie Ave. in Waukesha, at approximately 3 p.m. on April 11, asking if the funeral home's cemetery had Indian burial mounds. Staff at the funeral home told him they did not and he lingered for a bit, glaring at staff before leaving. Staff wanted the information documented but no law or ordinance was violated.
The staff was advised to call again if he returned and made them feel uneasy.
Mcmasturbater charged
A 23-year-old Waukesha man was charged with carrying a concealed weapon after a manager from a local fast food chain called police alleging the man was masturbating to pornography in the restaurant in March.
Nicholas P. Godejohn was charged on April 17 in Waukesha County Circuit Court with carrying a concealed weapon and disorderly conduct, which carries a combined maximum sentence of one year in prison, $11,000 in fines, or both.
According to the criminal complaint:
Officers from Waukesha City Police were dispatched to the McDonald's Restaurant at 1635 E. Main St. after receiving reports that a man was acting disorderly in the restaurant.
The restaurant manager told police that he walked by the man and saw that he was allegedly watching pornography with a hand down his pants. He said it looked like the man was masturbating.
Officers spoke to the man, identified as Godejohn, who told police he was seated in a booth and was viewing photographic movies on his laptop. He said he had his had down his pants because he needed to scratch himself.