Man Robbed at Gunpoint For Guns, Police Say

Two Milwaukee men are accused of breaking into a Greendale man’s apartment, then holding him at gunpoint to steal his various guns.

Mario Emmanuel James, 24, and Lamont Donnell Sholar, 31, were charged in Milwaukee County Circuit Court Tuesday with one count of robbery with use of force and one count of burglary. If convicted, they each face up to 35 years in prison and $150,000 in fines.

According to the criminal complaint:

On Oct. 27, 2010, the victim was inside his apartment in the 5800 block of Tower Road, when he heard a knock at the door and saw a man standing outside who was asking for a man named Rodriguez. The victim said no such man lived there and the conversation ended.

A little bit later the man knocked on the door again and when the victim went to talk with him he noticed the man was now wearing purple latex gloves. The man first said he was working on electrical wires, then said he was a process server looking to serve papers to a man named Rodriguez who supposedly lived in the apartment.

The victim came to the door a third time after hearing a knock and found the same man outside who asked if he could look at a picture of the man he was looking for on a cell phone. When the victim went to look at the phone another man emerged in the hall and held a gun to the victim’s head.

The other man placed the victim in Zip tie handcuffs and placed Duct tape over his mouth. The man then called a third person and told him to bring a car around, then demanded to know where the victim kept his guns.

The men stole two handguns, a bolt rifle, an AR 15 with an attached grenade launcher, a shotgun, ammunition, $200 to $300, debit cards, the victim’s ID and a holster. After the suspects left, the victim was able to get free and call the Greendale Police Department.

Later that day, police officers went to a home in the 1100 block of South 19th Street to investigate a Milwaukee man possibly selling firearms out of the residence. Inside the home they found several of the Greendale man’s guns and his ID.

The Milwaukee man told police that Scholar and James were trying to sell the stolen guns to pay for rent. He said Scholar’s brother worked with the victim and said he owned several guns. They found out where he lived and then robbed him for the guns so they could resell them for money.

The Milwaukee man said he and the two suspects then met Scholar’s brother at a Burger King on Fond du Lac Avenue, where they got a gun and hatched a plan to pose as a process server so they could get into the apartment. The man said he acted as the process server and after the first encounter with the victim he went and talked with Scholar, who said they would proceed with the robbery as it appeared the man was home alone.

James and Scholar are both scheduled to make their initial appearances in court Jan. 14.