Crime & Safety

Purse-Snatcher Murders Store Employee, Police Say

The same man who committed a purse-snatching in Greenfield in early August, shot and killed a Family Dollar store employee a few days later, police say.

Jason Wandick, a 26-year-old Milwaukee man, was charged in Milwaukee County Circuit Court this week with felony murder, armed robbery with the use of force and possession of a firearm by a felon, as well as resisting an officer, a misdemeanor.

According to the criminal complaint, Wandick approached a woman in the 9200 block of West Layton Avenue on Aug. 4, pointed a gun at her and told her to give him her purse.

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He then pistol-whipped the woman across the face until she released her backpack, which contained her purse and credit cards.

The woman’s credit card was later used at a gas station in West Allis, police say.

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Two days later, Wandick, who was with an accomplice shot and killed an employee atΒ  Family Dollar, 4331 W. Oklahoma Ave., according to the criminal complaint.

The employee, William Melendez, died a short time later due to a gunshot wound to the head.


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