Man Steals Phone from Brookfield Bank, Gives It to Girlfriend as Gift

A 36-year-old Milwaukee man is facing charges that he allegedly stole a cell phone from a Brookfield bank and gave it to his girlfriend as a gift.

According to the criminal complaint, on May 20, Rick D. Brenwall stole a Blackberry cell phone off a desk at U.S. Bank, 16900 W. Capitol Dr., and then gave it to his girlfriend as a gift. After an employee looked up the account activity for the stolen phone, she noticed unauthorized calls and text messages.

Police called one of the unauthorized numbers and the woman who answered told them she was called by her sister who told her her boyfriend had given her a new phone, according to police.

When police interviewed Brenwall, he told them he worked for a delivery company and was outside the bank smoking a cigarette when he found a cell phone lying on the ground with no numbers or information in it, so he kept it. Police asked about other cell phones that had been stolen from the bank in the days leading up to the Blackberry theft, but he denied knowing about them, according to police.