Woman, 45, charged with two counts of attempted homicide
WEST ALLIS – An incident that turned a local car dealership into a scene from the Wild West on March 10 resulted in charges against a 45-yearold Milwaukee woman Thursday.
The woman, armed with guns and 15 knives, was charged with two counts of attempted first-degree intentional homicide, according to a criminal complaint filed in Milwaukee County Circuit Court.
Melissa Sandrone, 45, of Milwaukee, is accused of trying to kill one of the owners of M&M Motors in West Allis and an M&M mechanic who followed her and temporarily blocked her escape. She wounded the co-owner.
Police apprehended her after a car chase when she stopped for traffic at S. 108th St. and W. Greenfield Ave.
A police sergeant pointed her weapon at the woman and ordered her to raise her hands. Police took her into custody without further incident.
The dealership, at 911 S. 108th St., is owned by M. Tripi and M.L. Tripi. According to the criminal complaint: Sandrone was angry at the victim, M. Tripi, because she blamed him for a motorcycle accident about 14 years ago in which she suffered a severe head injury.
The March 10 surveillance video from M&M shows Sandrone pulling her Jeep Cherokee into the dealership lot about 12:35 p.m. and blocking the exit Tripi needed to back out a Honda Pilot.
He told police he had asked the driver of the Cherokee to move it so he could get out.
The surveillance footage shows her going back to the Jeep, turning and firing at Tripi, who had gotten back into the Honda. The driver’s side window was shot out and he had been struck in the head, neck and back with bullet fragments, the complaint said.
He said she continued to shoot at him when he tried to get past her Jeep by backing the Honda into it with the hope of pushing the Jeep aside.
The maneuver didn’t work and his only option was accelerating forward past Sandrone, who was standing outside the Jeep pointing her pistol at him. She shot at Tripi as he sped past her, the complaint said.
Tripi then ran into the dealership, bleeding from the head.
A mechanic saw the Jeep leave and jumped into the Honda to follow, the complaint said.
The Jeep was turning around in a driveway and the mechanic pulled the Honda up to the Jeep’s bumper so they were facing each other.
He said he saw Sandrone point the gun at him through the windshield. He reclined in the driver’s seat to get out of the line of fire and slammed the car into reverse. He said he heard two gunshots, the complaint said.
He drove in reverse to 109th and Walker streets where he spotted a police squad car and began honking his horn to get the officer’s attention.
The Jeep was still in the driveway as the squad car approached, but the driver suddenly sped toward and then around the squad and a second squad that had just arrived, the complaint said.
The police officer noted that the driver’s face was expressionless.
The Jeep headed east onto Washington St. with squad cars in pursuit. The chase turned south on 108th St. and ended at W. Greenfield Ave.
During a body search, police found two loaded pistols with the hammers cocked and ready to fire, plus 15 knives attached to Sandrone’s belt, and in her pants pockets, shirt pockets, on a chain around her neck and tucked into her socks and boots, the complaint said.
In her car, they found a Zastava assault rifle with a magazine containing 30 rounds, a loaded semiautomatic .40caliber pistol, a machete, the book “Art of War” with underlined quotes, and other items, the complaint said.