Owners of Milwaukee bakery print burglary suspect's picture on sugar cookies

(NEXSTAR) – The owners of the Canfora Bakery in Milwaukee are a couple of smart cookies.

The Canfora Bakery, also known as the Lakeside Bakery, was burglarized on April 19 by an unidentified suspect who fled into the night with ill-gotten cash and equipment. Owners Karen and Eric Krieg didn’t have much to go on, but what they did have was an image of the suspect captured by Canfora’s security cameras.

“So, we made delicious sugar cookies with his image on them!” the bakery announced in a Facebook post shared on May 1.

The idea, as Karen told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, was to “see if the community could identify” the suspect.  

“We invite the Bay View community to come on in and take a bite out of the thief while supplies last,” the bakery added in its Facebook post. Followers were also urged to contact the Milwaukee Police Department with any knowledge of the suspect’s identity. The idea almost immediately worked, as the bakery’s Facebook post soon began generating tips from locals, the Journal Sentinel reported.

“He has been identified!” the bakery later wrote in an update posted to Facebook. “Thank you to everyone who responded.”

As of Saturday morning, however, no arrests had been made, the Milwaukee Police Department confirmed.

Fans of the bakery were nevertheless impressed with the Kriegs and their criminally clever idea.

“I've heard of wanted pictures put on pizza boxes, but I've never heard of a perp's picture being put on baked goods,” wrote one Facebook user in response to the idea. “Very creative in that aspect… I bet the cops had a good laugh at the picture and would cheerfully share pictures of other perps they want particularly bad.”