After a string of break-ins on the city’s South side, a resident spray painted a threatening message in the alley.
Milwaukee police say there have already been 239 car thefts this year in one neighborhood. Neighbors are seemingly fed up with people messing with their cars and a 10 line message in the alley proves it.
“That’s my stuff,” Casey Ramirez said. “My property. Why are you going through it?”
Ramirez says she’s one of many on her block who have had their cars broken into. She says she’s lucky because nothing was stolen, but it still has her concerned.
“Oh, nervous,” Ramirez said. “I got a little baby inside so it’s nerve racking.”
As troublesome as it may have been, when Ramirez came home from work she saw a message spray painted in the back alley which reads:
Thieves that touch cars in this alley will be shot dead!!! Try us you are on camera we don’t call cops we handel [sic] our own buisness [sic]
So while she doesn’t want the break-ins to continue, she thinks the message was over the top.
“I think that was too far,” Ramirez said. “I would have called the cops first. I think it was too far honestly.”
She isn’t the only one.
“I think if something happens to your property, you should call police,” said Julia Carrillo, a neighbor. “Or the authorities. You can not be writing threatening messages.”
“This certainly is not the approach I would prefer,” said Alderman Bob Donovan.
Donovan was disappointed to see the language used in the message but understands how tough it can be to have your personal property rifled through.
“It certainly can be frustrating when you’re a victim of a crime,” Donovan said. “Sometimes a repeated victim of crime. It’s disheartening. I hope it’s talk. Often times that is the case with most people. Their bark is bigger than their bite.”
Ramirez hopes the bark is loud because despite its misspellings, she hopes the message is heard loud and clear.
“I’m hoping that’s what it does,” Ramirez said. “I don’t want whoever it is to get mad and come back at it. We’ll have to wait and see.”
Neighbors say the alley was recently paved and are disappointed someone decided to deface the new concrete. However, Donovan says it will be cleaned up by Wednesday or Thursday.
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