Milwaukee Tool employee accused of stealing over $1 million in tools
A Milwaukee Tool employee allegedly shipped over a million dollars' worth of tools to himself
By Nick Bohr
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BROOKFIELD, Wisconsin (WISN) — More than $1 million in tools was stolen from Milwaukee Tool, allegedly by an employee who shipped the tools to himself and others without paying, according to investigators.
Brookfield-based Milwaukee Tool, which celebrated its 100th anniversary last year and recently added a downtown Milwaukee corporate location, discovered the theft this spring.
According to a Brookfield police search warrant for bank records obtained by WISN 12 News, the employee at the corporate office is believed to have “created and deleted approximately 115 orders from late March 2024 to late March 2025. Of those orders, 109 shipments were delivered … resulting in a total loss of $1,086,263.85.”
The scheme went undetected by upper management for over a year until the employee ordered approximately 9,000 pounds of tools to be delivered to his Wauwatosa apartment.
The shipping company questioned the delivery address due to the large shipment size, prompting Milwaukee Tool to begin an investigation. According to the search warrant, “customer service could not find the order in Milwaukee Tool’s system.”
The employee has not been charged yet, so WISN 12 News is not identifying him. However, investigators indicated in the search warrant that “due to the large quantity of stolen tools, he may have been working with businesses/customers to sell the tools in large volume and move them quickly.”
Milwaukee Tool declined an interview request but issued a statement saying, “Milwaukee Tool terminated the employment of an individual following a thorough internal investigation which uncovered abuse of our employee purchase program. We have zero tolerance for theft of any kind, and we are cooperating fully with law enforcement.”
The former employee declined to comment when approached at his apartment Tuesday. Criminal charges are currently being reviewed by the Waukesha County District Attorney’s Office.
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