Waukesha detective caught 'dumb criminals' at Milwaukee's ICC

By Melissa McCrady

CREATED Oct. 25, 2012

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MILWAUKEE - Two thieves, nearly 300 law enforcement officers and one big arrest.

Now, we hear from one of the police officers who busted attempted burglars at Milwaukee's Italian Community Center during a SWAT personnel conference.

"You can't make this stuff up," said Waukesha County Sheriff's Detective Steve Pederson, who attended the conference.

He heard a scream while he was there.

"We heard a frantic call for help, and we all know instinctively that something was very wrong," said Pederson.

That's when he saw two men making a quick exit.

"(The suspects) went into the restaurant/bar area and were observed trying to gain entry to a register and some of the other locked compartments in that area."

Pederson and a retired Milwaukee Police officer stopped them and asked the question many people want to know.

" 'Do you know what's going on here today?'  They kind of replied they did not.  I was just curious how they were able to walk by this sea of patrol cars in the parking lots and be completely oblivious to that."

Now, they are behind bars.  They were arrested for outstanding warrants and ticketed for trespassing.