Police officer stops burglary suspect in Wauwatosa

WAUWATOSA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A Milwaukee man is facing charges after police say he was caught in the act while breaking into a home near 60th and Meinecke. 

The incident happened on October 31. A Wauwatosa Police officer caught a man climbing out. 

The officer happened to be parked by the home when he heard a woman screaming. The officer got out of his squad car and that's when dispatch told him there was a burglary in progress at the home he heard screams coming from. 

The officer says he saw J.L. Thomas coming out of a first-floor window. Thomas started to run away but when the officer ordered him to get down, he did and was taken into custody. The homeowner says she was upstairs when she heard loud banging and realized her house was getting burglarized. 

The woman says she stayed upstairs. Thomas took a pack of cigarettes and left. One neighbor says he saw a big police presence that night. 

"I came running out and I noticed there was a bunch of cops on the other side of the street. There were a few with their assault rifles and one with a shotgun and one had like a flashlight so they were searching back there. The lady was kind of hysterical out front so of course, some cops were up front with her," said neighbor Ryan Gabriel. 

Thomas faces up to 12 and a half years in prison.