'Cigarette Santa Claus' Faces Criminal Charges

WAUWATOSA, WI -- When a sack-carrying cigarette theft suspect was arrested by police on Christmas Day, he told officers he was doing it to help his nephew.

Early Christmas morning, as children lay tucked in their beds, Wauwatosa police were dispatched to a report of a burglary alarm at the Speedway gas station at 6804 West North Avenue in the City of Wauwatosa.

According to police, when officers arrived at the store they observed two men, later identified as Emanuel Thomas and Rovonte Wallace, inside the store.

As officers approached the outside of the building, both men attempted to come out of the building and were ordered to stop. Both ran back inside the building and then attempted to elude police via an exit the rear of the building, their criminal complaint stated.

According to the complaint, police observed defendant Thomas drop a large garbage bag on the outside of the building before he retreated back into the business and police later observed that there were several cartons of cigarettes inside of this garbage bag.

Police report that video surveillance footage from the Speedway showed both defendants breaking a window of the Speedway and entering the store and beginning to load cigarettes into a garbage bag.

According to the criminal complaint, Wallace told police that he and defendant Thomas are associates and they were walking around in the area and he, Wallace, needed some money so he grabbed a garbage bag from a City of Milwaukee garbage can and he and defendant Thomas began looking for a location that looked “quiet” and when they arrived at the Speedway it looked quiet. He saw defendant Thomas grab a rock and use it to smash the glass near the main entrance.

He stated that they both entered the store through the broken window and he went to the back of the store to look for cigarettes and when he found them he and defendant Thomas loaded several cartons into the bag. He stated that after they loaded the bag with various items they started to get ready to leave the store and as he, Wallace, was about to exit he saw that an officer had arrived, the complaint stated.

According to the complaint, he saw that the officer had a gun and was at the front of the store so he decided to run out through the back. He stated that he ran out the rear exit on the north side of the store and began running northbound on North 68th Street but he soon became tired so he got down on the ground and was taken into custody.

He stated that the taking of the items was a group effort by him and defendant Thomas and he was only concerned about taking cigarettes and “stuff he could sell” and that he did it for his nephew, the complaint stated.

Wallace and Thomas have both been charged with felony burglary, and face up to seven-and-a-half years behind bars if convicted.

>>> image via patch.com / booking photo via Milwaukee County Jail