Police say a drone helped officers find the suspects after two employees were robbed at gunpoint on consecutive nights.
MILWAUKEE, WI — Two Milwaukee men have been arrested after police said employees were carjacked at gunpoint outside two chicken restaurants on Capitol Drive on consecutive nights in Brookfield and Milwaukee.
The arrests followed two similar robberies that police said happened near closing time or after business hours, when employees were leaving work. The cases drew attention because both happened on the same road, both involved restaurant workers, and both stolen vehicles were later found in the same Milwaukee neighborhood. Police said a drone helped officers watch one of the vehicles and arrest the suspects when they returned.
The first robbery happened just after 2 a.m. April 26 outside the Raising Cane’s on Capitol Drive in Brookfield. Police said an employee reported that two men took his car at gunpoint. Brookfield police said the restaurant is just west of 124th Street and Capitol Drive. An earlier police account said one suspect pointed a rifle at the victim before the suspects drove away in the victim’s car. No shots were fired, and no injuries were reported in that incident.
The next night, police said, another employee was carjacked at gunpoint after leaving work at Crazy Chicken near 78th Street and Capitol Drive in Milwaukee. The car taken in that robbery was later found near 70th Street and Hope Avenue. Police said that location was about a block from where the vehicle taken in the Brookfield robbery had been abandoned the day before. Investigators then suspected the two robberies could be connected because of the timing, the targets and where the stolen cars were found.
Brookfield police deployed a drone near the second stolen car and waited, according to the report. Officers later arrested 21-year-old Adrian Thomas and 17-year-old Quntae Russell after police said the men returned to the car and got inside. Police said Russell had a handgun when he was arrested. A Brookfield police search warrant said Russell later told investigators he had walked to the Raising Cane’s and buses were no longer running. According to the warrant, Russell said “he didn’t want to walk back home.”
The cases are moving through different parts of the court system because the robberies happened in two counties. Thomas and Russell are facing armed robbery charges in Milwaukee County tied to the Crazy Chicken carjacking. As of the latest report, they had not been charged in Waukesha County for the Brookfield robbery, even though the Brookfield search warrant described Russell’s statement about that incident. It was not immediately clear whether additional charges would be filed there.
The arrests also placed new focus on police drone use in the Milwaukee area. Milwaukee police have used drones for several kinds of calls, including reports involving suspected drunken drivers, traffic hazards and shooting alerts. Brookfield police had not responded to questions about their drone program and how it was used in this case. In the carjacking investigation, police said the drone helped officers monitor the stolen vehicle without immediately approaching it.
Both victims were employees leaving or near their workplaces when police said the robberies happened. The first incident was reported outside a Brookfield fast-food restaurant near the city’s border with Milwaukee. The second happened farther east along Capitol Drive in Milwaukee. The two locations are separated by several miles, but investigators noted that both stolen cars were later found close together near 70th Street and Hope Avenue. Police have not said whether either victim knew the suspects.
The case remains active as prosecutors and police review the two incidents. The Milwaukee County charges are the current court action against Thomas and Russell, while the Brookfield case remains without filed Waukesha County charges. Police have not announced any additional suspects. The next major step is whether prosecutors file more charges tied to the Brookfield robbery.
Author note: Last updated May 15, 2026.