The Madison Police Department hosted a news conference Thursday in response to a string of 17 burglaries throughout the west side of Madison.
Police officers arrested three men Jan. 9, two for links to the thefts and another for obstructing arrest, carrying a concealed weapon, and bail jumping.
After responding to a separate residential burglary, an officer spotted a man carrying items from a car to a house on the 1300 block of Loreen Drive.
Police incarcerated 17-year-old Zachary Midstokke and 19-year-old Jeffrey Harrison for the thefts, while 25-year-old Adam Edwards is not connected to the break-ins, additional arrests are likely, according to Captain of West District Vic Wahl.
Upon receiving permission to enter the house, MPD officers discovered over 100 stolen items including electronics, jewelry, credit cards, weapons and currency.
While this series of burglaries took place west of campus, Chief of the Madison Police Department Michael Koval warns students to lookout for potential thieves during large parties, where unknown guests may attend.
“Unless you know everyone and anyone that’s coming in the door, some use that as a pretext for recon,” Koval said. “They see what doors there are, what stuff you have, where roommates put the keys.”
Koval added the police department becomes “slammed” after academic breaks when burglars take advantage of empty off-campus housing, robbing houses with no witnesses.
With the increase in burglaries, both Koval and Wahl warn citizens to follow all safety measures to prevent future crimes.
“When you’ve got over 24 square miles and 85,000 residents in the West District, we can’t be everywhere and anywhere that we’d like to be,” Koval said. “That’s where it began, that collaboration with the community would be very helpful.”
