A UW-Madison student was battered and the victim of an attempted robbery downtown Friday night, according to Madison police.
Joel DeSpain, public information officer for Madison police, said the 19-year-old UW student told police he feared for his life after two teens—ages 14 and 16—allegedly attempted to rob him of his wallet around 11:00 p.m. Friday night.
DeSpain said one of the suspects pulled a knife on the student as he was walking down Conklin Place, a small street that runs behind the The Embassy and La Ciel apartment buildings.
DeSpain said the student was able to escape the dangerous situation because he waved down a cab that was passing by the scene. He said the student narrowly missed being cut by the knife-wielding 14-year-old when he got into the cab.
According to the police report, the student said, “If I wasn’t in the cab, the knife would have got me.”
The cab driver who stopped to help the victim reportedly called police to the scene. Police found and arrested the two aforementioned teens and charged them both with battery—the 14-year-old received an additional attempted robbery charge—for their connection to the incident.
DeSpain said two other teens were with the arrested suspects at the time; however, police did not have enough information to suspect them of any wrongdoing. Police said the teens claimed they traveled downtown on a bus.
As for the victim, police said he retained his wallet but suffered a quarter-size lump to his head.
Less than four hours after that incident, police responded to a strong armed robbery at the State Street/Dayton Street parking ramp on N. Carroll Street. A 29-year-old woman reported she was pushed down from behind. The woman, who was walking with friends, told police a man then grabbed her purse and ran, but her friends could not get a good look at the man as he sprinted away.
Police have no suspects in that case, and DeSpain said he does not believe the two incidents are linked.
“There may be more than one group of bad actors out there,” DeSpain said, adding one case involved a group of people and in the other, the man reportedly acted alone.
