Police: Oak Creek Man Stole $1k Worth of Alcohol, Other Items

Mount Pleasant police say a 47-year-old Oak Creek man tried to get away with more than $1,100 in alcohol and other items.

Joel Wiedenhoeft was charged Monday in Racine County Circuit Court with a felony count of retail theft, repeater, and a misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia, repeater. If convicted, he faces up to three years, seven months in jail and $10,500 in fines.

Mount Pleasant police were sent Sunday to Piggly Wiggly on Washington Avenue for a report of shoplifting. Dispatchers told officers the person in question—later identified as Wiedenhoeft—was also suspected of stealing from a Piggly Wiggly in Muskego, according to the criminal complaint.

Witnesses at the scene told police that store employees saw Wiedenhoeft fill a cart with liquor and other items and walk out of the store. Employees chased him in the parking lot and detained him.

Store management told police Wiedenhoeft may have visited the store the previous week to steal an undisclosed amount of merchandise.

Piggly Wiggly owner Ralph Malicki said incidents like this happen more often than people might think.

"We come across these kinds of guys probably every couple months," he told Patch. "I watch the retail theft notices from other retailers and some type of 'pro' theft or fraud is going on in the area almost continuously."

When officers took Wiedenhoeft into custody, they found a glass pipe with burnt ends—consistent with smoking crack cocaine and other illegal drugs, according to the complaint.

The total value of the items in the cart was $1,129.30.

Court records indicate Wiedenhoeft remains in Racine County Jail on a $1,000 cash bond. His preliminary hearing is May 23.