WAUKESHA - Elm Grove police are investigating a case where someone apparently attempted to ship 18 pounds of marijuana to Milwaukee from California.

According to documents filed in Waukesha County Circuit Court last week, handlers at the United Parcel Service in Elm Grove reported the parcel in question was delivered Wednesday to an address in Milwaukee that turned out to be a vacant property. But while there, a man approached the driver saying the package was to be delivered to him, an affidavit said.

A man later called UPS to ask that delivery of the package be made to a different address in Milwaukee on Thursday. UPS officials became suspicious and called police. A drug dog sniffed the package, a 5-gallon bucket sealed with a foam, and indicated it contained marijuana, the affidavit said. It added that a search warrant was issued, and the package was found to contain 18 pounds of marijuana.

Officers in Milwaukee were to search the residence in question after the package was delivered Thursday. Elm Grove police could not be reached for comment late Friday.

Man, 30, jailed for eBay scams

WAUKESHA - A Waukesha man who scammed users of an Internet auction site by receiving their checks but never sending their items was jailed for nine months.

Timothy Murray, 30, pleaded guilty to four counts of theft in a plea agreement that saw four other counts dismissed. He also was ordered to serve three years on probation, to have no Internet use and to repay his victims more than $4,100 in restitution.

According to a criminal complaint, people from as far away as Kansas and Iowa complained they won online bids for items being sold by Murray, sent him checks for the items and never received for what they paid.

WAUKESHA - A 15-year-old boy is no longer attending classes at Mukwonago High School after he allegedly took a knife with him Wednesday to school.

According to a police report, someone reported to the school resource officer that the Big Bend boy was heard talking about the knife and displayed it to other students. The student was cited for carrying a concealed weapon and possessing tobacco products.

Mukwonago Area School District Superintendent Paul Strobel said the student is no longer at the high school, nor is he expected to return. Without delving into details, Strobel said the matter was resolved by working with the boy’s parents.

Appeals court declines hate-crime appeal

WAUKESHA - Two North Lake firefighters will not be able to suspend their criminal cases while they appeal a judge’s finding that the men should face hate crime charges, an appellate court has ruled.

The District II Court of Appeals, in an opinion released last month, declined the requests of Mark Weber, 42, and Terrence Stapleton, 65, to place their trials on hold while they appeal a decision by Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Lee S. Dreyfus Jr. that hate-crime penalty enhancers against the men was constitutional. A hate-crime enhancer increases penalties for crimes committed against a person because of his race, ethnicity or sexual identity.

Stapleton was charged with disorderly conduct as a hate crime and resisting police, and Weber was charged with disorderly conduct as a hate crime and pointing a firearm at a person, as a result of an alleged April 19, 2005, incident in which a black man alleged he was threatened with a gun, a German shepherd and racial slurs after the men told him to stop fishing from a bridge along Highway E over the Oconomowoc River.

"(Weber) claims damage to his reputation and angst over being subject to criminal prosecution as substantial irreparable harm to be remedied by immediate review. All criminal defendants face those consequences," the appellate court wrote in its opinion.

Stapleton and Weber are scheduled to appear in court again June 2.

Man accused of lewd acts in park

WAUKESHA - A Waukesha man is to appear in court after allegedly performing an indecent act on himself in a county park last month.

Arnie Fritch, 33, was charged with one count of lewd and lascivious conduct and ordered to appear in court June 5.

According to a criminal complaint, Fritch was spotted by a woman in a family area of Muskego County Park on April 20, reportedly staring at her while sitting on a picnic table.

The complaint alleged Fritch was spotted gratifying himself, but he reportedly denied any inappropriate activity took place, saying it was possible the action of his scratching his arms and legs, which were flaky from working with drywall, was misinterpreted.

If convicted, Fritch faces up to nine months in jail and $10,000 in fines.

Man allegedly grew pot plants in home

WAUKESHA - A Brookfield man allegedly grew dozens of marijuana plants in his home, which would have been worth about $12,000 had they been harvested and sold, a criminal complaint filed recently in Waukesha County Circuit Court alleged.

Thomas Holland, 30, was charged with manufacturing marijuana and keeping a drug trafficking place, felonies which could subject him to up to 16 years in prison and $35,000 if convicted.

According to the complaint, officers in a regional task force got a warrant to search Holland’s Brookfield Road home Feb. 24. There, officers allegedly located drug paraphernalia and a loaded .38-caliber handgun, the complaint said, as well as 82 marijuana plants growing in two rooms of the house that were equipped with lights, fans and other equipment.

Holland allegedly estimated the street value of the drugs found to be $12,000 when questioned by authorities. The complaint also alleged Holland had a handgun because he said someone recently stole some of his plants and he was afraid they would come back.

WAUKESHA - A former firefighter accused of keeping child pornography in his fire department locker pleaded not guilty to the charges against him Wednesday.

Dean Brewer, 49, entered the plea to three counts of possession of child pornography. He remains free on a $25,000 signature bond and will appear in court again June 28.

Brewer was charged after a colleague last month allegedly discovered pornographic materials in Brewer’s locker at Fire Station #4 at 1700 Northview Road. A review of the materials allegedly revealed images depicting children engaged in sexual activity, a criminal complaint said.

Police investigate vending machine break-ins

WAUKESHA - Police are investigating a string of attempted break-ins to vending machines in the area in which people are attempting to pry open machines to get change.

Incidents of that nature were reported last week at Swim-Tastic Swim School on Arcadian Avenue and a nearby business on Tesch Court. Waukesha police records show similar crimes were reported at Speedy Lube, 922 W. Sunset Drive, and Kmart, 120 E. Sunset Drive, Wednesday morning.

Similar activities were reported in New Berlin, Waukesha Police Lt. William H. Graham Jr. said.

WAUKESHA - A Pewaukee woman has died who was suspected of driving drunk and in the wrong direction on an area highway, causing a crash that killed a person last week.

Emelia De Leon, 23, died at about 10 a.m. Sunday at Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital, said Kim Brooks, spokeswoman for the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office.

Authorities had recommended De Leon be charged with homicide by the intoxicated use of a motor vehicle after she was alleged to have driven the wrong way on Highway 45 early in the morning of May 7, striking a car head-on. As a result of the crash, Jeffrey Wyczawski, 38, of Hubertus, died.

Two others in the second vehicle survived. Doris Wyczawski, 38, was released from Froedtert on Sunday, and Craig Reimer, the driver of the second vehicle, was listed in satisfactory condition at Froedtert on Monday, a hospital spokeswoman said.

A spokeswoman for the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s office said an autopsy would be scheduled for Tuesday and that DeLeon’s organs were donated.

Girl reported missing found unharmed

WAUKESHA - An 11-year-old girl reported missing Sunday night was found several hours later, hiding in an apartment near her home, Brookfield police reported.

The girl took her dog outside at about 9:15 p.m. and did not return to her residence. A report of three suspicious subjects in the area at about the same time prompted police from Brookfield, Elm Grove, the Wisconsin State Patrol and the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department K-9 unit, as well as Flight for Life, to search for the girl, Brookfield police said in a news release. Officers searched near the girl’s home, along the interstate, wooded areas and a number of ponds and streams.

However, at about 3:15 a.m., a Brookfield police officer found the girl hiding in a nearby apartment building. Brookfield Police Capt. Phil Horter declined to discuss why or from whom the girl was hiding.

The girl was returned to her parents unharmed. The three allegedly suspicious subjects were not located and did not seem to be related to the girl’s disappearance, Horter said.

Police memorial ceremony set for Wednesday

WAUKESHA - Waukesha County police officers invite the public to join them for a memorial celebration honoring fallen officers.

The event takes place at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Abundant Life Church, 975 S. Sawyer Road, in the town of Summit. A police procession will leave Waukesha County Technical College at 6:30 p.m. and head to the church.

The Wisconsin State Patrol honor guard will present the colors to begin a ceremony that includes speeches by radio host Jeff Wagner, District Attorney Paul Bucher and Sheriff Dan Trawicki. A children’s essay contest, called "What I Appreciate About Police Officers," also will be discussed.

Food and drinks will be available after the ceremony.

Safety event planned for Saturday in New Berlin

WAUKESHA - Area emergency agencies and businesses are coming together to present an event Saturday promoting safety in New Berlin.

The public is invited to attend the event, slated for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at Target, 4798 S. Moorland Road.

The New Berlin Police Department will be on hand, conducting a neighborhood watch sign-up, running a DARE booth and more. The New Berlin Fire Department will demonstrate its fire safety house as well. Flight For Life, the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department dive team and other personal security information will also be available.

In addition, health screens, as well as discussions on identity theft and Internet safety, also will be available.

For details, contact the police department at 782-6640.

Two charged after three allegedly beat up

WAUKESHA - Two men were charged with second-degree recklessly endangering safety, battery and disorderly conduct after a fight Saturday morning in which one man was repeatedly kicked and a woman required stitches for injuries to her face.

Christopher Laudermilt, 22, of Waukesha, also was charged with substantial battery after he was the one who was alleged to have struck the 23-year-old woman, who needed stitches for her injuries, a criminal complaint said. Hung Doan, 21, of Waukesha, also was charged in the case.

According to the criminal complaint, a man allegedly thought Laudermilt and Doan were hitting on his wife in the 600 block of Summit Avenue at about 2:52 a.m. Saturday. The group had words, and Laudermilt and Doan allegedly struck the husband, the complaint said. When another witness tried to intervene, both defendants allegedly began kicking him in the head repeatedly, to the point that the man vomited blood and had a shoeprint on his forehead when seen at the hospital, the complaint said.

The men were later taken into custody, allegedly in a van leaving the scene, and Laudermilt also allegedly was cited for drunken driving, the complaint said.

Laudermilt appeared in court Monday and was released on a $10,000 signature bond. Doan has yet to make a court appearance on the case.