Man Who Forced Wauwatosa BMO Bank to go on Lockdown now Faces Prison

WAUWATOSA, WI — A branch manager for the Wauwatosa branch of BMO Bank was forced to close and “lock down” until a man who made threats to staff had been taken into custody.

According to his criminal complaint, Alonzo Brown, had been causing problems for several days. On January 9, he had come to the bank and demanded to know why he had no money, asking “Should I rob you or Associated Bank?”

The branch manager told police that earlier on the day she had the branch locked down, after Brown appeared at about 9:00 am and waited for the branch to open, then threatened to get a shotgun during a discussion with one of her personal bankers.

At that time, police say that Brown told her “I should come back with a shotgun and start shooting.” He was convinced to leave, but then returned to about an hour later and just stared at the banker while she was assisting other customers.

According to his criminal complaint, Brown returned to the bank a third time about 3:20 pm and again complained about having no money, telling the manager, “I need money! I’m negative, you ...[expletive deleted]."

After telling the manager he was going to kill her, Brown reportedly made threatening gestures as if shooting, then ran out of the bank. Fearing that defendant was going to retrieve the gun he had earlier threatened, she called police and put the bank in “lockdown.”

According to police, Brown was found in a vehicle in the parking lot of the bank, and refused to exit the vehicle despite repeated orders and efforts to subdue defendant with a taser were unsuccessful.

When Brown stood up and yelled several officers attempted to subdue Brown, who was actively resisting and screaming. During this attempt an officer injured his right arm and was transported to West Allis Memorial Hospital where he was diagnosed with a sprained right elbow which would cause him to miss several days of work.

Brown has been charged with making terroristic threats and resisting an officer. If convicted, he faces up to four-and-a-half years behind bars.

>>> image via milwaukee county jail