By Patricia Bogumil
Interim editor
A 21-year-old Milwaukee man faces multiple felony charges in connection with an alleged daring daytime caper at Metro Milwaukee Auto Auction in the Town of Raymond.
According to the criminal complaint filed in Racine County Circuit Court:
An employee of the auction had parked a BMW, leaving it unlocked and running in the dealers parking lot March 1 while he retrieved an item from a nearby vehicle.
The employee observed a beige Lexus with two occupants pull up and a passenger get into the BMW. Both the Lexus and BMW then drove away. The employee and a friend chased the two vehicles while calling ‘911,” but lost them in the chase.
The employee, when shown a six-person photographic linesup, positively identified Shaher Zaal as the individual driving the Lexus.
A subsequent investigation by the auto action determined that on Sept. 22 a lock on a seldom-used gate on the lot had been cut open.
Four vehicles were determined to have been taken from that area.
A sheriff’s department investigation found video evidence of two of the four stolen vehicles at nearby convenience stations.
Zaal was positively identified by one of the convenience store workers as the personh who came into the store to pay for gas for one of the vehicles reported stolen.
He is charged with three felony counts of being a party to the crime of felony theft in excess of $10,000
If convicted of all charges, he faces $75,000 in fines; 30 years in prison; or both.
Zaal posted a $1,000 signature bond March 13.
He is scheduled for an April 12 preliminary hearing in Racine County Circuit Court, when a judge will determine if there is sufficient evident to move the matter to trial.
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