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Elderly woman seventh mugging victim in week

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Also by Anthony Morgano:

Cieslewicz names appointee to new city treasurer position (October 25, 2007)
City award asks for nominations (October 24, 2007)
New hotel to be built on West Washington Avenue (October 3, 2007)
Elderly woman seventh mugging victim in week (September 28, 2007)
Madison police ask for cash (September 25, 2007)

by Anthony Morgano

Friday, September 28, 2007

A 91-year-old woman in East Madison was mugged stepping out of her car Wednesday evening, raising Madison's total count for strong-armed robberies to seven in just over a week.

According to a Madison Police Department news release, the attack took place around 5:20 p.m. in front of the East Madison Neighborhood Center.

The woman had parked in front of the center on the way to her weekly game of cards. She had yet to step onto the ground when a man snatched her purse, cutting the woman's finger on the strap of the purse in the process.

After failed attempts to prevent the theft, the woman began screaming for help and a private security officer was able to flag an MPD patrol officer. Along with the money she was carrying, the purse also contained photographs of her children and her address book. She informed the MPD "her whole life was in that purse."

MPD Public Information Officer Joel DeSpain reports that the woman is okay. However, the incident leaves the police department with the question of whether this strong-armed assault is connected to the previous six that have recently hit Madison.

"The detectives are going to compare notes now, but unfortunately, the victim in this case did not get a great look at the suspect," said DeSpain.

The woman identified her assailant as a black male but did not get a good look beyond that. Differences in location and the number of attackers also create difficulty in connecting this to previous robberies. In the cases last week, most of the incidents involved two suspects rather than one and took place on the west side of the University of Wisconsin campus or farther out toward the west side of Madison.

However, similarities, such as the assailant being reported as a black male, do exist.

"It's premature for us to connect the dots," DeSpain said. "But we will take a look."

Of the past seven incidents, this woman ranks as the oldest, with the previous victims falling between 19 and 47 years old.

"I would say that it is just tragic to think that someone would victimize a 91-year-old woman," DeSpain said. "There should be a certain level of decorum in our community. Attacking our senior citizens should be one of those things that should be taboo even among criminals."

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Anonymous (September 28, 2007 @ 7:51am):

This likely occurred near a bar or underage drinking. We need more police resources there.

Anonymous (October 12, 2007 @ 6:51pm):

Recently I was mugged on the northside nowhere nearby any bars nor was I intoxicated,police need to start reincforcing curfew

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