Student Confronts Accused Car Thief in UWM Union Garage But No Safety Alert Was Sent

Hundreds of people park their cars in the UWM Union parking garage every day with the assumption their vehicles will be in the same parking spot as they left them when they return. When UWM journalism student Ian Bergersen walked through the door into the Union parking garage to get in his Ford Explorer and drive to his internship at the Waukesha Freeman, he found an empty parking space with thousands of broken glass pieces glittering on top of the yellow lines around the stall. 

Even worse, the alleged car thief was still in it.

A dangerous scuffle erupted on Nov. 7 around 5:40 p.m. in the lower level of the UWM Union parking structure between Bergersen and Dwight Glenn Jones after the student jumped inside to get his car back, at one point hanging from the ski rack, a criminal complaint and Bergersen say. Bergersen says the suspect threatened that he had a weapon.

“I don’t wanna make it sound like I’m James Bond or anything,” said Bergersen about his action to take his car back. “I pretty much just stepped onto the running board and grabbed the roof rack with my hand and unlocked the passenger door with the key fob in my other hand.”

There was no S.A.F.E. alert sent to the campus community about the union garage car theft despite the fact that students have received recent alerts about crimes off campus. S.A.F.E. stands for: Safety Awareness for Everyone.

“SAFE Alerts are sent when there is a serious or continuing threat,” explained UWM Police Chief Joseph LeMire. “Since we had the suspect in custody in such a short amount of time there was no threat to the overall community. There was no need to send an alert.”

He added: “We always provide safety information during different types of presentations on campus. Transportation Services continues to work with us on implementation of cameras in parking structures which aid in deterring crime and also in solving crime.”

During the investigative process for this article, a class of roughly 20 UWM students unanimously agreed that they would have liked to know about this incident via a S.A.F.E. alert. All of those interviewed who regularly park their cars inside the union parking structure stated that they would have appreciated an alert about someone allegedly breaking into a car inside the parking structure and might have taken extra precautions had they been told.

“I think that the university should have prioritized this incident and issued a timely and thorough warning,” said UWM journalism student Allison Beebe. “As a student who regularly uses campus parking garages and has been a victim of an off-campus auto theft, I would have taken extra precautions if I had received a proper safety alert.”

Beebe had her Honda Civic stolen outside of her house two summers ago. According to her, the thieves used her car to drive around Milwaukee and break into other cars to steal people’s belongings. Someone found her Honda abandoned and out of gas on 8th Street full of other people’s property.

Like other students, Bergersen never worried about his vehicle inside the student union garage.

“This is just something I would never expect in the UWM Union parking garage,” said Bergersen. “Any other parking garage in Milwaukee would seem more likely.”

Bergersen said Jones, 53, of Milwaukee, ran into the Union when parking security arrived; Jones was later arrested in the surrounding neighborhood after a foot pursuit by UWM Police, according to a criminal complaint. Bergersen says he called the UWM Police non-emergency phone number and was placed on hold for more than 10 minutes before he decided to call again and explain his situation as quickly as he could. Bergersen said it took UWM Police about 30 minutes to make contact with him from the time of the first call.

However, the UWM police chief said that it took officers only 9 minutes to respond to the call and arrest the suspect.

“Officers were dispatched at 5:38 p.m.,” LeMire said in a written statement. “They made initial contact with the suspect at 5:45 p.m. and then had him in custody by 5:47 p.m. That means the officers took 9 minutes to respond to the call, get description of the suspect and then have him in custody. That turnaround time is quite impressive.”

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According to the criminal complaint, Jones is being charged with one count of taking a vehicle without owner’s consent by use of force or threat, which is a class E that carries a maximum fine of $50,000 and maximum prison sentence of 15 years.

UWM S.A.F.E. alerts are intended to alert UWM students, faculty, and staff to credible life-threatening or serious situations that present imminent danger or ongoing threats. They may also be used to alert UWM community members about dangerous weather, environmental concerns and dangerous or life-threatening activity including criminal activity.

The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act of 1998, or Clery Act as it’s more commonly known, is a federal act that requires colleges and universities participating in federal financial aid programs to maintain and disclose campus crime statistics and security information. UWM fulfills this requirement by maintaining daily crime and fire logs, and by publishing an Annual Security Report (ASR). The ASR contains a list of specific reported crimes, health and safety policies and procedures as well as fire safety practices and procedures.

The Clery Act also describes the types of crimes campus security officers must report, which include motor vehicle theft, intimidation and weapons law violations. The Clery Act also defines the geography where the Clery Act applies, which includes the UWM Union parking structure. The incident was noted in the crime blotter on the UWM police website.

S.A.F.E. stands for: Safety Awareness for Everyone. It is a program designed to supplement the ASR and daily crime and fire logs in a way that quickly alerts members of the UWM community to relevant safety concerns.

UWM S.A.F.E. alerts are intended to alert UWM students, faculty, and staff to credible life-threatening or serious situations that present imminent danger or ongoing threats. They may also be used to alert UWM community members about dangerous weather, environmental concerns and dangerous or life-threatening activity including criminal activity.

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Recently these alerts have notified students, faculty and staff about assaults and robberies in the area surrounding UWM. Three notifications about assaults during a week-long time period was the cause for concern for many students and faculty members, but all three of these assaults occurred off campus. While the assaults took place nearby campus and certainly affected the safety of UWM students, faculty and staff, an assault on campus arguably has more influence on the safety of the UWM community.

UWM Transportation Services has surveillance video footage of this whole incident taking place, but the footage was unavailable at the time of publishing of this article. An open records request was made in an attempt to obtain the footage. However, UWM denied the request, writing that the video and other records on the incident “relate to an ongoing investigation and prosecution.”

“Once the criminal case concludes, you are welcome to request the records again,” UWM’s open records custodian explained. “Barring any unforeseen developments, the records will be releasable at that time (subject to any redactions required by law). “

UWM’s chancellor has said previously that the university is adding more video cameras to campus.

“To help deter unwelcome actions, UWM continues the process of adding more video surveillance cameras to the almost 500 currently used on our campus and the surrounding perimeter,” said UWM Chancellor Mark Mone in an email response to the concerns over safety permeating throughout the UWM community.

How the Incident Unfolded

Here’s how it all unfolded according to Bergersen:

When he saw the shattered glass and realized his car was missing, Bergersen blipped the lock button on his keyfob and immediately heard his car alarm beep mere yards away. He ran towards the echoing sound of the car horn and quickly realized he could head off the would-be thief by sprinting towards one of the intersections between the rows of stalls.  

Leaping out of the way of the man who would later claim to simply be driving his own truck, Bergersen jumped on the running board of the passenger side of the truck and grabbed onto the roof rails with his hand. The driver wasn’t exactly breaking any land speed records in the parking garage, so Bergersen was able to open the door and hop into the passenger seat of the truck to directly confront the thief.

“Get the f**k out of my car,” said Bergersen as he slid into the passenger seat.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about man,” replied the accused thief, according to Bergersen. “This is my truck.”

“No dude, get the f**k out of my car,” reiterated Bergersen.

Jones allegedly cried out, according to Bergersen: “I got a piece!”

Bergersen was not intimidated by the alleged thief’s scare tactic and the pair soon arrived at the entrance gates of the parking garage in Bergersen’s semi-stolen Ford Explorer.

“Alright I’ll make a deal with you,” reasoned the thief, according to Bergersen. “I’ll get out of the truck as soon as you pay for the parking and open the gate.”

After quite an awkward pause between Bergersen and the alleged thief, UWM Security came over to see what the commotion was all about.

The thief decided it was his time to exit once he saw security closing in, Bergersen says. However, the thief’s decision to run straight into the UWM Union itself was not the best decision for his own interests since he was soon caught by UWM Police officers, according to the student and complaint.

According to the criminal complaint against Jones:

“Officer Parsons exited the squad car and the suspect, later identified as the above-named defendant, fled on foot,” the criminal complaint says. “A foot pursuit began, with other officers responding as well. Officer Steven Ohland’s reports indicate that he gave multiple commands of Police! Stop! to which the defendant did not comply. The defendant was stopped by a tall fence. Officer Ohland gave multiple commands for the defendant, to which the defendant did not comply. Officer Ohland observed the defendant holding a black and yellow screwdriver and observed the defendant throw the screwdriver. The defendant then physically resisted Officer Ohland before being taken into custody. The screwdriver and a flashlight were recovered.”

When UWM Police officer Jeanne Parsons informed Jones of the armed robbery charge, Jones allegedly replied “Armed robbery?”

Officer Parsons stated Bergersen reported that Jones stated he had a firearm during the robbery of Bergersen’s Ford Explorer.

“I can say whatever I want,” said Jones, according to the complaint.

The interview ended with Jones calling Officer Parsons a “f*cking b*tch,” the complaint alleges.

Here’s how the criminal complaint further described what happened:

“ICB discovered that his vehicle was no longer in its parking spot but observed the reverse lights of the vehicle activated. ICB observed the vehicle pull out of the parking lot and drive southbound in the parking structure, while ICB chased after his vehicle,” the complaint says.

“The vehicle, driven by the defendant, attempted to exit through an entrance gate and was unable to do so. ICB opened the front passenger door and ordered the defendant to exit ICB’s vehicle. The defendant refused to exit the vehicle. The defendant then placed his right hand in his coat pocket and stated, ‘I got a gun.’”

According to the complaint, “The defendant then began to reverse the vehicle, causing ICB to have to jump out of the way and hold onto the top luggage rack. At this time, JHT, a UW-M parking employee, arrived on scene. The defendant exited the vehicle and fled on foot. This incident was captured on surveillance video, reviewed by Officer Parsons. ICB can be seen arguing with the driver of the vehicle, the vehicle reverses and the passenger door strikes ICB, causing ICB to jump onto the vehicle’s running board and grab the luggage rack, before the suspect exits the vehicle.”

Jones allegedly left Bergersen a sealed “new car-scent” air freshener for his troubles but decided he would take Bergersen’s parking stub with him into custody. Authorities said they would look at the surveillance footage to determine how much he owed in parking fees for the day. UWM officials offered Bergersen a variety of mental health services but denied his request for any reimbursement for the damage to his car window, which cost Bergersen several hundred dollars to replace, the student says.

“I don’t have insurance that covers that,” said Bergersen about replacing his broken window. “I have some pretty bare minimum insurance. It was a really cold ride home though. This was when it was snowing out and it was like freezing. I was bundled up with my jacket and the heat blaring. All the glass was rattling around in the back, so when I got home, I vacuumed out all the glass and duct-taped a plastic bag over the window.”

To help prevent future car thefts at UWM, LeMire recommends students, faculty and staff “Always lock your doors and do not leave ‘spare’ keys in an unattended vehicle.”

Currently, there are no permits available for the Union parking structure and the cheapest semester permits for students are $300 with no overnight parking allowed. Semester permits are mostly unavailable for faculty and staff, but annual permits range from $900 for non-reserved spots to $1,800 for all garages and surface lots excluding Waukesha and Washington County campuses.  

“It’s like $550 a semester if you buy a semester pass for residence or overnight parking,” said UWM student JC. “That’s lots of money for insecure parking. I think they’re not telling people about this because they don’t want to scare away people who park in the lots and bring in a lot of money.”

According to the police account, the thief was able to gain access to Bergersen’s Ford Explorer by breaking the rear driver’s side window. He was able to start and drive the Ford after finding a spare key in the glovebox. Bergersen said he forgot his mom placed the key in his glove box for emergencies.   

LeMire does not recommend anyone attempt to forcefully recover stolen property like Bergersen did because it can be extremely dangerous, and it is not worth the risk. LeMire said that, in 2019, “other than this one we have had no other car thefts.” He added of the suspect, “This is the only case for campus in which he is a suspect.”

According to the Annual Security Report, there were five motor vehicle thefts on the main Kenwood campus grounds from 2016-2018. There were eight burglaries and one robbery on the same grounds last year, but sexual offenses, specifically rape with 15 counts (13 of which were in UWM residence halls), are the most prevalent criminal offense on campus.

At the time of publishing of this article, most of the glass from Bergersen’s broken window is still laying on the ground of the northwest corner of the lower level Union parking structure, almost a month after the incident took place. 

On December 5, 2019, Jones was bound over for trial after a preliminary hearing in Milwaukee County Circuit Court. He was declared indigent and given a public defender. Court records indicate that Jones has a past criminal history in Wisconsin, including forced entry to a locked vehicle.