Milwaukee’s wave of violent crime has not subsided.
Yesterday (8-14-15) a unit prep crew for one of the other larger Southside owners were robbed at gun point while unloading their van at 8:30 AM. The crime happened on 24th and Maple.
One work suffered serious injuries from being struck with an iron bar across the face. The guy has a broken lower jaw, upper jaw, nose and eye socket.
What did the thieves get from this violent attack? $40. They did not even steal any tools. What was the most the criminals could have expected to get robbing a couple of apartment painters art work? Maybe… $40. WTF. Who robs paint crews at 8:30 in the morning?
Two guys in a grey Hyundai were driving slowly down the street, as though they were looking for an address. They pulled in and parked a couple of car lengths ahead of the worker’s van. Two workers were unloading the stuff they needed to finish the prep.
One of the bad guys calmly walked up to a worker and asked him for a light for his cigarette. The worker gets out his lighter, looks up and sees the gun. Fixated on the gun, as you would be, he doesn’t see the other guy until he was struck in the face with the iron bar. Had the worker turned his head he could have been hit across the back of the neck.
The worker never had a chance to simply hand over his wallet. These criminals were willing to possibly kill someone for a couple of dollars.
How do you even protect yourself in a situation like this? Even if the worker had a carry permit, there would have been no time to react between this being a stranger looking for a light and a violent attack.
Later that same day two people were shot in a robbery on 34th and Lincoln. A few days earlier and a few blocks east, a ten year old was shot in his own home as bad guys decided to shoot out in the street outside. Things are seriously headed in the wrong direction.
I used to walk the neighborhood that are properties are located in every chance I got. Today walking what use to be the fairly safe Southside, would be insane. We are close to eclipsing Detroit as the most depressed city in America.