Crime is plaguing the area around the UW-Milwaukee campus.
It's kind of weird that this scourge is getting national attention as a "feel good" story.
Kyle Windorski, a UWM student and U.S. Army reservist, was spared by robbers when they saw his military ID. They even apologized to him and thanked him for his service. One of the thugs gave him a fist bump.
Kyle Windorski (Photo/TMJ 4)
But other victims, including Rabbi Alexander Milchtein, haven't been so lucky.
From WISN-TV:
A rabbi approached by gunmen, an Army reservist nearly robbed on the street, that’s just part of the surge in crime that has happened around the UW-Milwaukee campus in recent days.
A 21-year-old UW-Milwaukee student said that he was walking from work early Tuesday morning when four men pulled him into an alley and robbed him.
When they saw his Army ID, they apologized and let him go, but UW-Milwaukee's chancellor sent out an e-mail on Tuesday warning students to be careful.
Milwaukee police officers are part if a new effort to fight back against a surge in recent street crimes around the campus.
That makes a total of three armed robberies took place southwest of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus early Tuesday, according to campus authorities.
The same four men are believed to have been involved in all three robberies, campus police said.
But, Tuesday's robberies are just a sample of what the campus has been dealing with lately.
Rabbi Alexander Milchtein said that the was confronted by masked gunmen on Oakland Avenue around midnight on Monday and tried to run away.
"I fell down and they kind of stood next to me pointing guns at me, two guys at the same time," Milchtein said.
The gunmen walked away, but this case is just another reason why the university is trying to expand a zone of protection beyond the UWM campus.
Here's an interview with Rabbi Alexander Milchtein - CBS 58 News Video.
Too bad Rabbi Milchtein didn't have a military ID. Perhaps he would have been treated with more respect.
From the Associated Press:
A Milwaukee Army reservist's military identification earned him some street cred Tuesday, when he says four men who mugged him at gunpoint returned his belongings and thanked him for his service after finding the ID.
The 21-year-old University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee student said he was walking home from work about 1:15 a.m. Tuesday when he was pulled into an alley and told to lay face down and with a gun to his neck. Four men took his wallet, $16, keys, his cell phone and even a PowerBar wrapper from his pants pockets, he said.
But the hostile tone quickly changed when one of the robbers, whom the reservist presumed was the leader, saw an Army ID in the wallet. The robber told the others to return the items and they put most of his belongings on the ground next to him, including the wrapper, the reservist said.
"The guy continued to say throughout the situation that he respects what I do and at one point he actually thanked me and he actually apologized," said the reservist, who asked not to be identified Tuesday because the robbers still had his keys.
The reservist said he asked the men, who all had hoods or hats covering their faces, if he could get up and they said he could before starting to walk away.
"The leader of the group actually walked back, gave me a quick fist bump, which was very strange," he said.
Milwaukee police spokeswoman Anne E. Schwartz said the reservist is credible and that officers still were looking for the suspects Tuesday.
..."I'm just kind of awe struck that everything was given back to me due to just being in the military, " he said. "I realize in pretty much every other situation that wouldn't happen."
...Schwartz said there were two other incidents within 40 minutes in the same area and police suspect the four men were involved in all of them. The robbers were unsuccessful at 12:35 a.m., when the 39-year-old man they approached ran into the street and started screaming.
Schwartz said within 10 minutes of that they approached a 47-year-old man - a convicted burglar who had a Department of Corrections inmate ID in his wallet - ordered him to the ground and pointed a gun at him. They took his wallet, apparently unfazed by that ID.
Here's an interview with Kyle Windorski - TMJ 4 Video.
With the graphic "Patriotic Criminals" on screen, reporter George Mallet said:
As you know, there have been a lot of armed robberies in this neighborhood of late, but there would also appear to be a measure of honor among thieves.
He should tell that to Rabbi Milchtein and the other victim.
These thieves have no honor and they aren't patriotic. While I'm glad Windorski wasn't robbed and wasn't physically harmed, I don't give the thugs any credit.
Patriots don't rob any fellow citizens at gunpoint.
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