GROPPI'S Joins the Bay View Victim List

It was just a matter of time.

On Tuesday, the Bay View Applebee's was robbed.

Thursday, it was Groppi's turn.

From The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

A popular Bay View grocery store was robbed overnight by a man Milwaukee police suspect may be involved in at least eight similar robberies on the city's south side.

The man entered Groppi's Food Market, 1441 E. Russell Ave., about 7:10 p.m. and showed a silver and black handgun as he ordered everyone onto the floor, according to police. He approached the cashier and also grabbed a purse from a customer. No one was hurt.

Police spokeswoman Anne E. Schwartz said witnesses described the man as a white male, six feet tall, 200 to 225 pounds and having a stocky build. They said he wore a black mask and sunglasses, and black jacket with a yellow or white stripe down the sleeves.

When the man fled the store, other people entering caught a glimpse of his vehicle, but could only provide a vague description. They said it was an older, box-style vehicle with a chrome bumper. It was blue or black in color.

People unfamiliar with the Bay View area of Milwaukee don't understand how shocking and troubling this string of armed robberies is.

Residents are not accustomed to living alongside this sort of lawlessness.

Unfortunately, incidents like these are more common in other parts of the city. These crimes are not business as usual in Bay View and on the far south side.

With each robbery, I keep repeating the ramifications of these crimes.

I'll say it again--

The good, law-abiding people will flee these formerly safe, peaceful, beautiful neighborhoods and leave the city, putting their property tax dollars into the coffers of communities in the suburbs and the ex-burbs.

Milwaukee will continue its downward spiral into chaos.

If the city loses the relatively crime-free stability of Bay View and the far south side, Milwaukee can be pronounced dead.

Why isn't Mayor Tom Barrett addressing the matter?

Is he content to let crime spread while he whines about inadequate gun legislation out of Madison?

I guess so.

The Milwaukee Police Department has been inexcusably slow in releasing descriptions of the suspects.

If the MPD has put out the information, the media have failed to pass it along to the public.

I wonder which Bay View business will be the next to be victimized.

Tonight or tomorrow, where will patrons be told to hit the floor as a thug with a gun robs the place?

It will happen.