Mom takes kids along for ride on holdups, cops say
Mom, teen son held in birthday-heist case
By Steve Schmadeke | Chicago Tribune reporter
9:36 PM CDT, August 20, 2008
It was certainly a birthday to remember.

A Milwaukee woman celebrating her 37th birthday with a 17-year-old son visiting from Chicago went on a robbery spree with him Tuesday night, police said. Mom drove the getaway car while her son robbed a gas station in Milwaukee and another in the suburb of Greenfield within an hour, according to police.

Also in tow were the woman's 13-month-old daughter and 10- and 14-year-old sons, police said.

"This is a first," said Greenfield Police Chief Francis Springob of the alleged armed robberies. "Good grief, it's really a sad situation when you're celebrating your mom's birthday [like this]. It's one of those where you're almost like 'You've got to be kidding.' "

Police in Greenfield, a suburb of about 35,000 southwest of Milwaukee, received a 911 call at 7:54 p.m. from a Speedway gas station. A few minutes later, police stopped a vehicle about a mile north that matched the description of the getaway car.

The 17-year-old ran and was arrested behind a library, police said.

All three of the woman's other children remained in the car and were placed with the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families, police said. The woman and the 17-year-old are in police custody.

The 17-year-old told police they had robbed a gas station near 9th Street and Lincoln Avenue in Milwaukee about an hour earlier, police said.

sschmadeke@tribune.com