Police seized more than 1,500 pairs of girls’ shoes from the home and storage unit of a man arrested for breaking into a high school, police said Tuesday.
“He liked to smell them,” said Lt. William H. Graham.
Police said the recovered shoes may be related to the burglaries of three Waukesha public high schools and a middle school over the past two years.
The 27-year-old Kenosha man, who was not identified because had yet to be formally charged, worked for a cable company and collected keys to the schools as he responded to calls, Graham said. The same man was convicted in 2005 for stealing shoes from Kenosha Tremper High School.
Police arrested him after a security video showed him entering North High School on May 20 and leaving with some items, authorities said.
Officers searched the man’s home and a rented storage unit on Thursday, recovering the shoes along with school yearbooks, keys, a bolt cutter and other items.
The man was expected to be charged in Waukesha County Circuit Court, Capt. Mike Babe said.
