West Bend man arrested in robbery spree

A West Bend man, 35, suspected of committing one armed robbery in each of four communities Thursday - West Bend, Milwaukee, Fox Point and Brown Deer - was arrested early Friday at a West Bend residence, Police Chief Ken Meuler said Friday.

Surveillance photos and witness descriptions from the four locations helped police identify the suspect, Meuler said in a statement.

At 4:44 a.m. Thursday, the man entered a Walgreen's at 806 S. Main St. in West Bend and told a clerk that he had a handgun, Meuler said. He demanded money and fled the store after obtaining an undisclosed amount of cash.

Between 7:30 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. Thursday, the man is suspected of similar armed robberies at a Walgreen's at 6707 W. Hampton Ave., Milwaukee, at the parking lot of a Walgreen's at 8615 N. Port Washington Road in Fox Point, and at a Cousins' Sub Shop in the 4800 block of W. Green Brook Drive in Brown Deer, police said.

At 2:50 a.m. Friday, West Bend police located the suspect's vehicle in the 1300 block of Hans St. Police subsequently located the suspect in a nearby residence but the man refused to exit the building. The West Bend Police Department's special response team entered the residence at 6:14 a.m. and arrested the suspect, Meuler said.

West Bend police have asked the Washington County district attorney's office to charge the man with armed robbery.

The man is being held in the Washington County Jail this weekend on an arrest warrant for violating conditions of probation in an earlier criminal conviction. He is expected to go before a Washington County Circuit Court judge on Monday related to the burglary charge.