Common Council combats gas pump skimmer outbreak with lock requirement
By Max Bayer | Nov. 1, 2016The Madison Common Council voted unanimously Tuesday to require all gas pumps in the city be secured by a lock by the start of the new year.
The Madison Common Council voted unanimously Tuesday to require all gas pumps in the city be secured by a lock by the start of the new year.
Madison Police Department officers arrested four individuals Sunday for shoplifting at West Towne Mall, and the preliminary investigation shows the suspects were planning on selling the stolen merchandise to “clients” for half the price. MPD officers arrested Jermaine E. Harris, Jr., 24; Kristel D. Tate, 26; Sonja M. Griffin, 33 and a 14-year-old girl. One of the suspects, whom MPD Public Information Officer Joel DeSpain did not identify in an incident report, informed officers of the “criminal enterprise.”
The City of Madison is moving forward with plans to build a public market by attempting to finalize funding, design, construction and an operating plan with the goal of opening the market by early 2019. Common Council approved the “Public Market Business Plan and Implementation Strategy” in March of this year for constructing the market, according to a city press release.
The Madison Police Department was “very pleased” with how Freakfest went this year, according to a press release from Public Information Officer Joel DeSpain. The crowd reached 30,000 total throughout the event and there were no “serious incidents” reported.
A 14-year-old boy walking across Regent Street at Brooks Street suffered a “possible” broken leg early Friday morning, according to a Madison Police Department incident report.
Students were evacuating Witte as the Madison Fire Department arrived to an alarm activation around 2 a.m.
When officials from the Madison police and fire departments arrived at the intersection of Hammersley Road and South Midvale Boulevard, they found an elderly woman sitting in her minivan that was stuck in an 18-inch pit dug for construction. The call came in from a bystander who reported to authorities there was a driver stuck in a “hole” at the intersection.
The 700 and 800 blocks of Langdon Street, on which Memorial Union and the Pyle Center are located, will close Monday at 9 p.m. Miron Construction will close that part of Langdon, which is between North Park Street and North Lake Street, in order to complete a concrete crosswalk and finish the asphalt paving of the same section of Langdon. The Madison Metro 80 bus route will be detoured, according to a city press release.
Bail was set at $200,000 for suspended UW-Madison student Alec Cook Thursday, as the 20-year-old made his initial appearance in court.
City officials are looking to collect more data on housing in the downtown area to find affordable solutions for student housing.
Madison Police Department officers are searching for a suspect who allegedly robbed and headbutted a woman doing laundry in a common area at a Fahrenbrook Court apartment building early Saturday morning. The woman went to do some wash around 2:05 a.m.
Mayor Paul Soglin announced Monday that Madison is now one of 16 new cities to be a part of the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ What Works Cities initiative, an effort to increase the city government’s use of data and evidence.
A man dropped his pants and exposed himself to the passengers of a car on the 400 block of Gilman Street Saturday night. According to a Madison Police Department incident report, the suspect stepped in front of the car in the middle of the road.
Several intersections will close to allow for Freakfest Saturday, disrupting traffic and bus routes, according to a city press release. The intersections of North Lake, West Gilman, West Johnson and West Dayton streets at State Street will close at 5 p.m.
Several demographic groups disproportionality use tobacco, according to a recently released report from Public Health Madison-Dane County. “While the reported overall decreases in tobacco use seem like very good news, a deeper look reveals that smoking and tobacco use rates among several groups remain much higher,” Tobacco Free Columbia Dane County Coalition Coordinator Ryan Sheahan said in a Monday press release.
Alec Cook, a suspended UW-Madison senior, will be charged Tuesday in a 30-count criminal complaint following sexual assault reports from multiple women last week.
Madison Police Department officers arrested Austin Byrd, 22, for alleged attempted burglary, disorderly conduct and two counts of criminal damage to property after he tried breaking into a State Street apartment Saturday night. The victim, a 22-year-old female, was studying in her apartment when she heard a “pounding” on the door, according to an MPD incident report. “She heard the sound of breaking glass, not just once, but twice,” MPD Public Information Officer Joel DeSpain wrote in the report.
A third victim has come forward to report Alec R. Cook, a UW-Madison senior, of sexual assault. The 20-year-old victim said Cook assaulted her in a downtown apartment in 2015 and MPD detectives will recommend that Cook face additional charges of second-degree sexual assault and false imprisonment, according to a Madison Police Department incident report. The new report came shortly after a second victim came forward to report the suspect of sexually assaulting her last February.
Alec Cook, 20, who was arrested for alleged sexual assault earlier this week, turned himself into Madison Police officers Thursday night and has been tentatively charged with the sexual assault of a second victim. The second victim, a 20-year-old female, came forward after the initial arrest and told MPD investigators Cook also sexually assaulted her in a downtown apartment last February, according to an updated MPD incident report. "I saw the news story and was empowered by another girl being able to tell what happened to her, that I thought I could now finally tell,” she told a detective, according to the report. The second arrest of Cook's has two counts of second degree sexual assault and one account of third degree sexual assault. Cook’s former fraternity, Phi Delta Theta, announced Thursday night they “separated” from him.
The Lake Rescue Team, affiliated with Madison Fire Department, was called out to Lake Monona to investigate an eerie situation during the midmorning hours Wednesday. According to a MFD incident report, people fishing and enjoying the unusually warm weather were suspicious when they saw an unattended boat a distance from the shoreline with the motor running for more than 10 minutes. The Lake Rescue Team arrived at the Olin Park boat launch at approximately 9:34 a.m., and proceeded into the water to the neglected boat. “Medic 5 was in the area at the time and also responded to the scene,” Public Information Officer Cynthia Schuster said. “They met an off-duty Madison firefighter who just happened to [have] return[ed] from fishing.” After arriving at the unattended vessel, two other boats cruised over.