University officials urged students to focus on personal safety precautions Monday after a student was robbed at gunpoint on an off-campus street Friday night.
The 25-year-old male victim was walking on Mills Street just south of Chandler Street after leaving the engineering building around 10:50 p.m. Friday, according to a Madison Police Department release. MPD Public Information Officer Joel DeSpain said a masked gunman riding a bicycle attacked the victim from behind.
[The perpetrator] held a gun to [the victim's] neck and asked him if he had anything in his pockets,"" DeSpain said.
The perpetrator took the student's wallet and cell phone before fleeing with another male perpetrator standing nearby. DeSpain said the victim was not injured.
The robbery prompted university officials to issue a statement reminding the campus community to be aware of their personal safety and to utilize UW-Madison's SAFEwalk and SAFEride programs for secure transportation.
The incident on Mills Street is one of several crimes committed in student-frequented downtown areas during the past week.
Early Saturday, a 20-year-old man from Racine was hospitalized after being beaten by two men in the 500 block of State Street. DeSpain said the men approached the victim looking for a fight and then punched him several times until he was knocked unconscious.
Based on descriptions given by the victim's friends, police were able to locate and arrest the perpetrators, 23-year-old Dustin Bachman of DeForest, Wis., and 25-year-old Bradley Thompson of Des Moines, Iowa, in the downtown area. Police said Bachman is tentatively charged with substantial battery and Thompson is tentatively charged with battery.
In a separate incident, the Open Pantry at 1401 Regent Street was robbed at gunpoint early Monday morning. DeSpain said two men entered the store around 5 a.m. when one of the men pointed a handgun at an employee and demanded money from the cash register.
Police described the armed perpetrator as a 6'0"" black male, 18 to 22 years old, wearing a light colored mask across his nose and mouth. The second man is described as a 5'8"" black male, 18 to 22 years old, wearing a red jacket with blue stripes on the sleeves.
