4 teens arrested in armed robbery may be linked to other crimes, police say

Detectives are continuing to investigate whether four teens arrested in an armed robbery earlier this week can be linked to other crimes, Milwaukee police said Thursday.

The four teenage suspects — three of whom were under county supervision for prior offenses — were arrested Tuesday after ramming a police squad car with stolen car used in a prior robbery, police said.

According to Milwaukee police:

A 50-year-old man was walking in the 8100 block of W. Nash St. on Tuesday afternoon when he was approached by three teens, one of whom had a gun. They demanded the man’s cellphone and fled in a stolen 2016 Ford Focus.

The department’s Robbery Task Force found the unoccupied stolen car later that day in the 2700 block of W. Clarke St. and watched the car until four people got inside of it.

The officers tried to pull the car over but the driver instead rammed the car into the squad car. The four teens were arrested after a brief foot chase, and police found a rifle and several cellphones inside the vehicle.

Police arrested two 15-year-old males, a 16-year-old male and a 13-year-old girl. Three of the four were under county supervision, and the 15-year-old driver has prior arrests for carjacking and robberies.

Police expect to refer the case to prosecutors in the coming days.