Police Catch Oak Creek Car Burglary Suspects: Report

FRANKLIN, WI — Authorities in Franklin say they've arrested two men responsible for stealing multiple vehicles and executing multiple vehicle break-ins, including one on Verdev Drive in Oak Creek during their crime spree.

Authorities say Daniel Hernandez, 20, Milwaukee, and Jonathan Gonzalez, 17, Oak Creek, now face 13 charges against them. Those charges vary from recklessly endangering safety, to resisting an officer, burglary among others.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Milwaukee County, an off-duty Franklin police officer saw two suspicious vehicles quickly exit a subdivision and turn west on Puetz road just after midnight on May 29.

Police say that the occupants of those vehicles, later identified as Gonzalez and Hernandez, fled police. A high-speed pursuit ensued, as the two suspects fled officers at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour as they fled into the City of Greenfield.

During the pursuit, police said they determined that one vehicle, a blue Audi Q5, had been stolen out of St. Francis on May 29. The second vehicle, a Lincoln MKZ, was found to be stolen out of Franklin at roughly the same time.

According to the criminal complaint, Hernandez told police that he, Gonzalez and a third suspect drove in the Audi and later found the Lincoln. Hernandez said that the third suspect got in the Lincoln while he stayed in the Audi. Hernandez said that after the Audi was disabled with police "stop sticks," that he got out of the Audi and got into the Lincoln during the pursuit.

Police later arrested Hernandez and Gonzalez on foot after the Lincoln was disabled by a high-risk PIT maneuver by pursuing officers.

According to the criminal complaint, officers in Franklin, Oak Creek, Greenfield and St. Francis had been compiling reports of the two suspects' activities, including an incident at the Franklin Walmart, and a vehicle break-in in Oak Creek.

Police say Gonzalez and Hernandez stole a 2014 Mercedes Benz SUV from Greenfield on May 27. Police say they obtained surveillance footage from the Franklin Walmart, and say that the two were seen with the stolen vehicle as they tried purchasing items using a stolen credit card. The SUV was later recovered May 28 in Milwaukee.

According to the criminal complaint, officers in Oak Creek say the two were linked to a May 28 incident on Verdev Drive. The criminal complaint stated that a resident on the 8100 block of Verdev Drive went out to check on sounds of commotion in his garage just before 7 p.m., only to find the two suspects rummaging through his two parked vehicles inside the garage. Investigators said one of the suspects reached into his waistband to display a black firearm as he was running from the scene.

When asked about what they do with the cars that are taken, police said Hernandez admitted that they "joy ride them for two or three days and that they can find 'good [stuff]' in the cars, like guns."