MILWAUKEE — A business owner announced a $5,000 donation to Milwaukee Police Department to help victims of car thefts.
Safe Auto Group is partnering with the City of Milwaukee and police to break down the donation to $50 gift cards to use toward repairs.
Officers will hand out the Safe Auto Group/Safe Auto Glass gift cards while on the job and at their discretion.
The amount of an individual gift card may not sound like much when a broken window may cost anywhere between $200-$500 to fix, but the business owner Tom Almaghrabi and the police chief stressed they are doing what they can and every effort helps.
"Even before we even did the $50, we're always helping people. So it's not a business opportunity. We've been in the City of Milwaukee for 33 years. We want to turn something back to the city," Almaghrabi said.
"We should always be appreciative when individuals such as Tom and owners step up to say, 'hey we understand that pain. We see that pain and here we can do to adjust some of that pain,'" Chief of Police Jeffrey Norman said.
Norman hoped this gesture will encourage other businesses to help in their way to assist in addressing public safety.
MPD's statistics show the city has had 4,209 motor vehicle thefts so far this year, which is down 11% from the same time-frame in 2021.
