July 1, 2021- 6:53 p.m.
OCONOMOWOC, Wis. —Oconomowoc police said they arrested a suspect wanted in connection with an armed bank robbery and multiple car thefts.
Officers said he was identified as Kaia Mueller.
Investigators said he was arrested in Sauk County on Wednesday.
A car Mueller was driving was involved in a hit-and-run Wednesday near Highway 67 and Valley Road, police said.
Witnesses told officers the suspect drove the vehicle away on the bike path.
Mueller, 44, was later arrested by the Lake Delton Police Department.
The investigation is ongoing.
Oconomowoc police have not answered additional questions.
“It’s been surreal,” Alderman Kevin Ellis said. “I don’t think this has ever happened in Oconomowoc before.”
Authorities said Mueller was wanted in connection to an armed bank robbery Tuesday at Waukesha State Bank.
Police said he tried stealing a salon owner’s car, but the salon owner fought him off.
The suspect then stole a man’s car at gunpoint about a block away at a senior living center, after reportedly pushing him to the ground.
That man is Pam’s Treptow’s 88-year-old father.
“He pulled him out of the car and threw him to the ground,” she said.
Her father said police had surveillance video of Mueller following him down underneath his apartment to the parking garage.
It was at that point the man said Mueller pulled a gun and held it up to his window.
“From what I saw on TV, the windows were all broken and it doesn’t look like he’s gonna get it back and that was his pride and joy,” Treptow said of her father’s car.
The car was stolen from the parking lot of senior apartments.
Police said the suspect then robbed Waukesha State Bank, crashed the stolen car on I-94 and took off on foot.
A homeowner on Valley Road told reporters he came home at 6 p.m. to find the suspect had run to his house, broken in through a window, grabbed a set of keys from his garage and stole his vehicle.
The owner said the vehicle was dumped at Okauchee Lake.
On Wednesday, law enforcement used drones to search the Pabst Farms area and squads were seen patrolling the nearby subdivisions.
The FBI was assisting with the investigation.
According to online court records, Mueller pleaded guilty in 2015 to robbing a bank in Whitewater.
He was sentenced to four years in prison.
Mueller was expected to be charged next week.
