Posted: May 5, 2009

Two well-known Wauwatosa East High School athletes were among the three teens arrested for armed robbery Friday afternoon.

The boys were scheduled to go to a basketball tournament in Indiana, but they allegedly decided to hit up a local marijuana dealer for cash first.

Three 16-year-old boys - two from Wauwatosa and an athlete at Milwaukee's Vincent High School - were apprehended after they allegedly invaded a home of a woman and her 18-year-old son in the 6100 block of Martin Drive.

According to Wauwatosa Police Department reports:

One of the Wauwatosa boys was packing for the trip to Indiana when the other Wauwatosa boy called several times and asked to borrow a BB gun. He said he was looking to get some money that was owed to him and told his teammate if he brought his ski mask he would get paid to serve as a lookout.

All three entered the house, which they said they had been to before, pointed the gun at the residents and demanded the son give them money, which they said they knew he had from selling marijuana. He denied having money, so his panicked mother said she would take them to a bank and get them cash.

Two of the boys left with the mother, while the lookout stayed behind and unveiled his face to the son, who said he would get in trouble for having marijuana at his home. The two tried to hide the son's drugs before the lookout went into the basement to hide.

Meanwhile, the mother and two teens arrived at Metcalf's Sentry Foods on State Street, where Guaranty Bank is located. They allowed her to go into the store alone, where she called the police and said her son was being held against his will. When the boys in the car heard sirens, they ran to the nearby UPS Store, where they were apprehended.

When officers responded to the house, they ordered the boy in the basement to come out. He was arrested in the front yard of the residence, where he immediately started crying and said his life was over because he was supposed to attend college on an athletic scholarship, which would likely be taken away.

The three suspects were taken to Milwaukee County Children's Court, where they are expected to appear before a judge on Wednesday.

Officers suspected the son may have been targeted due to drug activity. A search warrant was issued, and marijuana and drug paraphernalia were found in his bedroom. He said the $4,000 in his room was money he was saving to buy a car, according to the report. He was arrested for marijuana possession.