Crime & Safety
Criminal Complaint: Teen Charged With Theft Tried to Flush Away Evidence
Seventeen-year-old girl charged with 11 counts of theft in Waukesha County Circuit Court.
A Waukesha teenager is facing 11 theft charges for her role in a string of car break-ins in early November, according to a criminal complaint filed Thursday in Waukesha County Circuit Court.
Miranda L. Vanzeeland, 17, was charged with 11 counts of misdemeanor theft charges after a Waukesha Police Department officer discovered stolen electronic devices in her vehicle during a routine traffic stop, the complaint states. If convicted, she faces up to 99 months in prison and $110,000 in fines. Seventeen-year-olds are charged as adults in Wisconsin courts.
According to the criminal complaint, at 2:22 a.m. Nov. 10, Vanzeeland and two juvenile passengers were pulled over for an equipment violation and during the stop, the officer noticed electronics screens from within two plastic bags. There had been a rash of break-ins in Waukesha during that week and when the officer asked whose items were in the bag, the complaint states none of the vehicle occupants would claim ownership.
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The complaint states Vanzeeland and the juveniles were taken into custody and she asked to use the bathroom. After she returned, a female officer informed the questioning officers she had just been in the bathroom and noticed a Verizon pre-paid rebate card in a toilet, which appeared like someone had tried to flush it.
Officers later discovered the rebate card had been stolen, but the complaint states Vanzeeland told investigators a friend had given her the card.
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After searching Vanzeeland’s vehicle, the complaint states officers discovered a stolen handicapped parking placard, five GPS units, three iPods, two cell phones, three cameras, power cords and chargers. An officers found two GPS units advertised for sale in Waukesha on the Craigslist website, the complaint alleges, and in one of the postings a picture of what appeared to be one of the juvenile suspect’s hands holding one of the devices.
The complaint states numerous items were traced back to the rash of thefts in the area.
Vanzeeland is scheduled to appear in court April 13.
