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Fraboni’s robber receives charges

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by Pedro Oliveira Jr.

Monday, October 15, 2007

A man accused of robbing a Regent Street store and causing several University of Wisconsin buildings to lock down late in September was charged with armed robbery Friday.

If convicted, Marcus T. Chavous would face up to 40 years in state prison for the robbery of Fraboni's Deli at 822 Regent St.

Chavous, who has been on parole since May, was previously convicted of two armed robberies, one in the same neighborhood as Fraboni's.

"I'm quite confident that his parole will be revoked by the Department of Corrections and he'll [also] have to serve at least four years for a past robbery," Assistant District Attorney Mike Verveer said.

Chavous was charged with armed robbery for alleging to have a gun, Verveer said, though he never used it during the robbery.

"To further [the incident], he caused the inconvenience of thousands of people in the UW campus, including two university residence halls and administrative buildings, which were in a lockdown," Verveer said.

The Madison Police Department answered to a Sept. 28 call from Fraboni's reporting an armed robbery, resulting in a floor-by-floor search for the suspect at the UW Administration building at 21 North Park St., according to a police report.

Police found part of the money Chavous stole from the store and also part of his clothing, both of which he discarded in the administration building while trying to escape.

"He was wearing part of a sweat suit that he had while he was in prison with his number," Verveer said. "If it wasn't enough, he confessed the crime to Madison Police detectives when he was interviewed later in the trial."

With the left-behind clothing and a confession to police, Verveer is confident of Chavous' conviction.

"That's obviously where he belongs since he can't stop committing these armed robberies," Verveer said.

Chavous has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 18, but according to Verveer, it might be waved due to the strength of current evidence.

Chavous' bail was set at $5,000.

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