A 39-year-old Wauwatosa man is facing burglary, child neglect, and resisting arrest charges after police say he crawled through a window of a local sports bar early on August 28 wearing a Packers robe, made off with alcohol from behind the bar, and left his two young children home alone while he did it.
Thomas Barrath was allegedly caught on surveillance footage climbing into a window at Jackson's Blue Ribbon Pub at 1:24 a.m., according to a criminal complaint filed in Milwaukee County Circuit Court and reported by WTMJ. The bar's owner contacted police after reviewing the footage, which showed the intruder moving through the bar and register area, per CBS 58. Barrath was allegedly wearing a Packers robe during the break-in and took alcohol from behind the bar, according to the complaint.
A K-9 unit found Barrath lying between two bushes outside the pub. Officers recovered a six-pack of White Claw and a bottle of Tito's vodka near where he was located, the same complaint states. Barrath refused to be fingerprinted and gave police a fake name when he was arrested, according to the criminal complaint.
Two Children Left Alone at Home
Barrath is the primary caregiver for his two children, and police who inspected his residence following the arrest found both kids unattended, according to the complaint. The station's report identifies the children as ages 5 and 9, with one child under 6 years old. Both children were unharmed, but their ages are significant under Wisconsin law: leaving a child under six alone can trigger felony neglect charges even without any physical injury, per Wisconsin Statute § 948.21.
Jackson's Blue Ribbon Pub sits at 11302 W. Bluemound Road in Wauwatosa and operates as a sports bar and event space that also runs shuttle service to Milwaukee Brewers home games at American Family Field, according to the venue's business listing.
Felony Exposure Adds Up
Barrath was charged with burglary, two counts of child neglect, and resisting arrest, and prosecutors say he could face a maximum of 17.5 years in prison if convicted on all counts. Standard commercial burglary in Wisconsin is a Class F felony carrying up to 12.5 years in prison and fines as high as $25,000 under Wisconsin Statute § 943.10(1m). Child neglect involving a child under six rises to a Class I felony even absent injury, while giving a fake name to police falls under Wisconsin Statute § 946.41 as obstructing an officer, a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to nine months in jail and a $10,000 fine.
A Rare Case for a Low-Crime Suburb
The break-in stands out against Wauwatosa's broader crime picture. The city's burglary rate sits at 149 per 100,000 residents, well below the national average of 500.1 per 100,000, according to Niche. The Wauwatosa Police Department also reported in its 2025 Annual Report that motor vehicle thefts in the city dropped 47% compared to the prior year amid targeted enforcement efforts. Earlier this summer, the department's Special Response Team arrested a 33-year-old suspect days after an armed bank robbery on North 124th Street, one of several recent high-profile police actions in the suburb.
Court records have not yet indicated Barrath's bail status or a preliminary hearing date. The criminal complaint was filed on August 31, days after the alleged break-in.
