Mice on the Loose at Beauty School Cause a Stir

Eight mice that were let loose at a local beauty school caused a panic in early November.

The culprit for letting the furry creatures free is Joseph L. Mariscal, 22, of West Allis, according to a criminal complaint. Mariscal was charged Monday in Waukesha County Circuit Court with disorderly conduct.

Mariscal arrived at The Academy: Paul Mitchell Parnter School, 2000 Silvernail Road, around 2 p.m. Nov. 1 to pick up his diploma from graduating the beauty school program and congratulate his classmates.

But while he was there, eight store-bought pet mice were let loose at the school, according to the complaint.

“This created a disturbance and scared not on the workers, but patrons as well,” the complaint states.

Five of the mice were captured and three were shooed out the door. One of the employees at the class contacted nearby Pet World and learned the mice had been purchased from the store, according to the complaint.

An employee at Pet World showed a Waukesha police officer the video of Mariscal purchasing the eight mice about an hour before he arrived at the beauty school on Nov. 1. The clerk told the officer she thought Mariscal was acting suspicious, but he told her he was purchasing the mice to feed to his mother’s snake, according to the complaint.

Mariscal denied letting the mice loose at the school, telling an officer he gave the mice to three girls at the school for $15.

However, a beauty school classmate told an officer that Mariscal was talking about “crazy stuff” in spring 2012, such as releasing cats, mice and cockroaches in the school. He was having problems in the school, she told the officer, and they would joke about letting the mice go but never planned to do so, according to the complaint.

But then the woman received a phone call from Mariscal.

“She is almost certain that he had told her that he had released the mice,” the complaints states.

Mariscal is scheduled for a July 8 initial appearance on the disorderly conduct charge.