Two independent vehicular accidents in Madison left two people dead Friday, according to Madison Police Department reports.
The first occurred at approximately 2:30 a.m. on the 3100 block of Lake Mendota Drive, where a vehicle had gone off the roadway, skidded down an embankment, hit several trees, struck a parked car and caught on fire.
The fire, which completely engulfed the car, also spread to two unoccupied parked cars. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene. In a statement released Friday afternoon, Dane County Coroner John Stanley said the autopsy indicated alcohol was a significant contribution to the accident.
The other accident occurred at about 6 p.m. Friday, when a car hit a pedestrian at the 1200 block of Fish Hatchery Road. The driver noticed the pedestrian, 56-year-old Richard Stayner, in the roadway, but was unable to stop the car. Stayner was pronounced dead at the scene.
Madison Police also responded Saturday night to a computer and bicycle burglary at 1315 E. Mifflin St., according to a separate Madison Police Department report. The police caught a man who matched the description in the 100 block of East Doty Street soon after receiving initial information. The suspect, Raymond A. Wallace, a 47-year-old black man, was charged with burglary and theft. He was booked into the Dane County Jail. All stolen property was recovered.
