Overview
- Police arrested two men inside the vacant, fire‑damaged Lincoln Avenue School and a third in a nearby vehicle after security spotted flashlights on the property during an Aug. 6 response.
- Officers say they found backpacks with lock picks, a portable saw and other tools inside the building while the vehicle contained a firearm and controlled substances.
- Prosecutors charged Soe Hla, Lah Tah and Eh Pu Jaw with burglary counts; Tah and Hla also face possession of burglarious tools and habitual‑repeater allegations while Jaw faces an additional felony bail‑jumping charge tied to a November 2025 case.
- Milwaukee Fire Chief Aaron Lipski announced investigators determined the June 30 fire was accidental and sparked by chemical‑soaked rags, and Milwaukee Public Schools has retrained staff, provided approved metal rag containers and limited oil‑based chemical use on hot days.
- Nearly 500 Lincoln Avenue students will be relocated to Pulaski High School, officials plan demolition and the case highlights risks of copper and scrap theft at vacant, damaged public buildings as well as the potential for elevated penalties under Wisconsin’s habitual‑repeater laws.