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Posted on 08/29/2025 5:29:37 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
BROOKFIELD, Wisconsin (WISN) -- More than $1 million in tools was stolen from Milwaukee Tool, allegedly by an employee who shipped the tools to himself and others without paying, according to investigators.
Brookfield-based Milwaukee Tool, which celebrated its 100th anniversary last year and recently added a downtown Milwaukee corporate location, discovered the theft this spring.
According to a Brookfield police search warrant for bank records obtained by WISN 12 News, the employee at the corporate office is believed to have "created and deleted approximately 115 orders from late March 2024 to late March 2025. Of those orders, 109 shipments were delivered ... resulting in a total loss of $1,086,263.85."
The scheme went undetected by upper management for over a year until the employee ordered approximately 9,000 pounds of tools to be delivered to his Wauwatosa apartment.
The shipping company questioned the delivery address due to the large shipment size, prompting Milwaukee Tool to begin an investigation. According to the search warrant, "customer service could not find the order in Milwaukee Tool's system."
The employee has not been charged yet, so WISN 12 News is not identifying him. However, investigators indicated in the search warrant that "due to the large quantity of stolen tools, he may have been working with businesses/customers to sell the tools in large volume and move them quickly."
Milwaukee Tool declined an interview request but issued a statement saying, "Milwaukee Tool terminated the employment of an individual following a thorough internal investigation which uncovered abuse of our employee purchase program. We have zero tolerance for theft of any kind, and we are cooperating fully with law enforcement."
The former employee declined to comment when approached at his apartment Tuesday. Criminal charges are currently being reviewed by the Waukesha County District Attorney's Office.
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No wonder so many of these companies are starting to automate.
So much of this retail theft is fenced on Facebook Marketplace and such places and they have no desire to crack down on any of it.
“The scheme went undetected by upper management for over a year”
Gee — give upper management deserves a bonus for being so sharp. On second thought, fire them all.
I worked in a plating plant. We got a new customer to plate their tools. Employees were plating them, then stealing them. That customer was gone within a month.
The local radio stations could be liable for playing that Johnny Cash song—otherwise the guy might never have got the idea.
I owned a small Milwaukee adjustable wrench that was made in the 1970s. It was a precision instrument that had no wiggly slack all modern ones do and would stay set until you readjusted it, allowing me to skip having to use a socket set more often than not.
Someone stole it. Grrrr.
Average of $9965 per delivered order. Wonder if the company had a limit of $10K before higher ups would also review the order?
As it turns out, they guy was getting "bonus points" from the supplier which he used for a color TV and vacation trips.
He wasn't a crook, just stupid. He was suspended for 5 weeks without pay.
That’s a shame. I don’t recall seeing Milwaukee brand tools, except for power tools. I’ll look them up.
Another time, two maintenance workers decided to build a gas powered log splitter, using plant welding gear and salvaging parts from around the plant.
Unbeknownst to them, plant security and labor relations were watching them thru the entire build.
When it was finally completed, they were busted by security. They were suspended for a while, but because they were union, they got their jobs back.
I don't know what happened to the log splitter....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uErKI0zWgjg&list=RDuErKI0zWgjg&start_radio=1
Well, I left Kentucky back in '49
And went to Detroit, working on assembly line
The first year, they had me putting wheels on Cadillacs
Every day, I'd watch them beauties roll by
And sometimes, I'd hang my head and cry
'Cause I always wanted me one that was long and black
One day, I devised myself a plan
That should be the envy of most any man
I'd sneak it out of there in a lunchbox in my hand
Now, getting caught meant getting fired
But I figured I'd have it all by the time I retired
I'd have me a car worth at least a hundred grand
I'd get it one piece at a time
And it wouldn't cost me a dime
You'd know it's me when I come through your town
I'm gonna ride around in style
I'm gonna drive everybody wild
'Cause I'll have the only one there is around
So the very next day, when I punched in
With my big lunchbox and with help from my friend
I left that day with a lunchbox full of gears
I've never considered myself a thief
But GM wouldn't miss just one little piece
Especially if I strung it out over several years
The first day, I got me a fuel pump
And the next day, I got me an engine and a trunk
Then I got me a transmission and all the chrome
The little things I could get in my big lunchbox
Like nuts and bolts and all four shocks
But the big stuff we snuck out in my buddy's mobile home
Now, up to now, my plan went alright
'Til we tried to put it all together one night
And that's when we noticed that something was definitely wrong
The transmission was a '53
And the motor turned out to be a '73
And when we tried to put in the bolts, all the holes were gone
So we drilled it out so that it would fit
And with a little bit of help from an adaptor kit
We had that engine running just like a song
Now the headlights, they was another sight
We had two on the left and one on the right
But when we pulled out the switch, all three of 'em come on
The back end looked kind of funny too
But we put it together and when we got through
Well, that's when we noticed that we only had one tail fin
About that time my wife walked out
And I could see in her eyes that she had her doubts
But she opened the door and said, "Honey, take me for a spin"
So we drove up town just to get the tags
And I headed her right on down main drag
I could hear everybody laughing for blocks around
But up there at the courthouse, they didn't laugh
'Cause to type it up, it took the whole staff
And when they got through, the title weighed sixty pounds
I got it one piece at a time
And it didn't cost me a dime
You'll know it's me when I come through your town
I'm gonna ride around in style
I'm gonna drive everybody wild
'Cause I'll have the only one there is around
Uh, yeah, Red Ryder?
This is the Cotton Mouth in the Psycho-Billy Cadillac, come on
Huh? This is the Cotton Mouth
And negatory on the cost of this machine, there, Red Ryder
You might say I went right up to the factory and picked it up
It's cheaper that way
Uh, what model is it?
Well, it's a '49, '50, '51, '52, '53, '54, '55, '56, '57, '58, '59 automobile
It's a '60, '61, '62, '63, '64, '65, '66, '67, '68, '69, '70 automobile
This is unfair.
The guy IDENTIFIED as a paying customer do he shouldn’t be discriminated against .
Could have been just a couple pallets of tool batteries. Have you seen the price on those things?
That’s sad.
For my work travel I see several prices when I book a hotel. Some offer extra frequent stayer points when booking at a slightly higher rate.
I generally stay at budget hotels so my hotel costs are usually pretty low, usually less than my colleagues.
While I could easily do that and never get caught, character is what you do when no one is watching and I have character.
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