Car Found At Bender Park Beach Linked To One Stolen Last Year

OAK CREEK, WI — Authorities pulled a car out of Lake Michigan at Bender Park beach last week. The car is tied to a police report from 2020 where a man said his red convertible was stolen at knifepoint, according to the Oak Creek Police Department.

On Aug. 20 the Oak Creek Fire and Police Departments and Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office pulled a small coupe out of Lake Michigan. The car was covered in mud and sheriff's deputies estimated it had been there for "quite some time."

The car is related to an incident that happened in Aug. 2020, Oak Creek Police Captian David Stecker confirmed. A police report showed that a 24-year-old man from Racine told police a stranger approached him when he was stopped in his car at Pennsylvania Avenue and Ryan Road, Patch previously reported.

The stranger showed the driver a pocket knife and reportedly demanded to be taken to Bender Park. The man told police he drove to Bender Park with the stranger, got out, and watched in horror as the knife-wielding robber drove away in his car, Patch reported.

The man reported the car as stolen. Soon after, though, he came back and requested the vehicle was not reported as stolen, Stecker told Patch in an email. The car that was initially reported stolen is a red 2000 Pontiac Sunfire convertible.

Patch will update with more information from the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office, the primary investigating agency in the case, as it becomes available.

"This morning, we responded to the Bender Park Boat Launch for the report of a vehicle that was submerged in approximately 6 feet of water," the Oak Creek Fire Department wrote in a Facebook post.

SEE ALSO:

Submerged Car Recovered From Bender Park: Oak Creek Fire Dept.

Oak Creek Man Held At Knife Point, Had Car Stolen: Police