MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. — Authorities arrested three men in connection with a burglary in Menomonee Falls, during which a person inside a home was shot and injured.
The incident occurred shortly after 2:30 a.m. on Aug. 18 at a residence on Weyer Farm Drive. The shooting victim, a relative staying at the home, was taken to the hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, according to Menomonee Falls police.
"No one was caught and I didn’t know if they could have somehow gotten in or been hiding out. It freaked me out and it was right over there. Too close for comfort in my eyes," Judie Helmer, a neighbor, said.
On Oct. 3, search warrants executed in Milwaukee and Racine counties led to the arrest of three suspects from Milwaukee; Zamontae Burch, Dezmen Wilks, and Demetri Duvall-Wilks.
According to a criminal complaint filed Friday in Waukesha County Circuit Court, the men stole a 2002 red Jeep Liberty from Milwaukee just after midnight on Aug 18.
The defendants said they planned to enter vehicles in the area where “rich people leave them unlocked.”
Wilks admitted to police that they broke into about 20 vehicles in Menomonee Falls before they went into the home on Weyer Farm Drive, which the investigation revealed was unlocked.
While inside, the relative, who was sleeping on the couch in the living room, woke up and started screaming.
The complaint revealed Burch admitted to police that he shot at the person, but that he "wasn't trying to kill him, he just wanted him to stop screaming."
With people now in custody, neighbors are hopeful that life will go back to normal in their subdivision.
"The neighbors all get along, we have block parties, the kids are still out, this isn't making us scared. The police have done an amazing job," Kimberly Leidel, a neighbor, said.
Burch is charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide, armed burglary as a party to a crime with a dangerous weapon, possession of a firearm by a felon, and operating a vehicle without the owner's consent.
Wilks and Duvall-Wilks each face charges of armed burglary as a party to a crime and operating a vehicle without the owner's consent.
All three men have a cash bond set at $100,000. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 16 at the Waukesha County Courthouse.
The investigation is ongoing.
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