"You feel violated, sad:" Police look to ID suspect after family-owned liquor store burglarized & burned

MILWAUKEE -- Milwaukee police and the ATF are asking for the public’s help identifying a suspect related to a recent burglary/arson.

The MJM Liquor Store near 22nd and Fond du Lac was burglarized and set on fire around 2:20 a.m. on Sunday, August 14th, during unrest in the city, in the wake of the fatal officer-involved shooting of 23-year-old Sylville Smith near 44th and Auer on Saturday.

Prior to the fire, witnesses described six cars pulling up to the store, with three to four people inside each car. The suspects broke into the store, looted it, and then threw Molotov cocktails and fled. The picture above is of a suspect that MPD would like the public to help identify.

PHOTO GALLERY



The daughter of the man who owns the liquor store said having a surveillance photo of the suspect in this case gives them hope.

Tyria Thomas

"We got the news in the middle of the night that the store was on fire," Tyria Thomas said.

Thomas was with her father when he got that call. MJM Liquor had been broken into and set on fire.

"It makes you feel violated. It makes you feel sad. It makes you feel pretty much discombobulated," Thomas said.

Thomas said she felt that way not only when she saw what was done to her family's business, but even more so when she saw what that did to her father.

"It was his livelihood. Now my father, he's just really, really...not the same person after this happened," Thomas said.

But now, the family has some hope, thanks to this new surveillance photo.

"It's so important. I think they should be brought to justice," Thomas said.

"It's important that if someone has information, they come forward with that simply because the damage that`s caused affects all of us," Terry Lintonen, Milwaukee Fire Department deputy chief said.

The Milwaukee Fire Department fought the fire on August 14th.

"I guess there's a big picture when we look at fighting a fire, but the devastation that`s left afterwards is equally devastating," Lintonen said.

While an arrest will help Thomas and her family move forward, she also feels it can prevent something like this from happening to another family.

"I think it will give them a sense of seeing that someone will turn you in. You can be stopped," Thomas said.

Anyone with information may call the Milwaukee Police Department at 414-935-7360 or the ATF at 1-888-ATF-FIRE.