West Allis officials dealing with "organized crime ring" of burglars

WEST ALLIS (WITI) -- The community of West Allis is dealing with a big group of burglars banding together and breaking into a lot of homes. Police call it "organized crime."

Suzanne Gieschen is a burglary victim. In late January, she and her husband were arriving home from church when they noticed something suspicious about their home.

"As I got out of the car I saw the windows open. I said 'John our windows are wide open.'   As we're talking we walk here and then we see all the glass," Gieschen said.

Burglars had smashed their side door window, entered their home, ransacked their bedroom and taken the most valuable thing in the house.

"The only thing that they did take was a solid gold necklace that my husband had gotten me when we were in Greece," Gieschen said.

Captain Chris Botsch with the West Allis Police Department says Gieschen's case is the tip of the iceberg. Over the past five months, they've linked at least 35 separate burglaries to a single group of criminals.

"The size and the scope of this is out of the ordinary for our community. This was somewhat of an organized network that was really responsible for a large amount of crime here in West Allis," Botsch said.

Though the network has been discovered, many of the victims haven't gotten their stuff back, including Gieschen.

However, at this point, she just wants to see someone held responsible -- something police are well on their way towards, having already arrested more than a dozen people.

"More arrests will be made in the coming days, weeks and maybe even months ahead but one of the primary things we're waiting for is the analysis of the evidence," Botsch said.

Police say there are more than a dozen people suspected in this burglary ring. No one has yet been charged.

Police say they're waiting on the state crime lab to finish processing evidence and would like to see charges filed within the next month.