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Employee chases Sports World thief
Man shoplifts jacket, woman chases for 45 minutes in Uggs
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A clerk from Sports World on State Street chased a coat thief through downtown Madison Wednesday wearing nothing but a T-shirt, leggings and Ugg boots.
Marquette junior Livia Novitvke, 22, said she was in Sports World at 510 State St. at 12:30 p.m. when a man sporting a green camouflage jacket began to suspiciously patrol the store. Novitvke said her co-worker noticed the suspect, Russel Guthrie, 47, had a bulge under his jacket when exiting.
Novitvke then noted a hanger with an old sweatshirt on it and immediately phoned the police.
According to John Williamson, owner and manager of Sports World, Novitvke told the police the man was wearing a camouflage jacket.
Although the police were inspecting the case, Novitvke said Guthrie, wearing the stolen garment, returned to the scene 45 minutes later.
“This particular [jacket] was $349,” Williamson said. “He had very good taste.”
Williamson added the jacket was a North Face Chronicle Down Jacket, one of the most popular jackets in the North Face collection.
Williamson said he was returning from lunch when he saw Novitvke dart out of the store’s door, yelling a guy stole a jacket.
Williamson said he and Novitvke ran outside without jackets and chased the subject down Gilman Street to an alleyway.
“He ran from us, and I guess out of instinct I started chasing him,” Novitvke said.
Williamson said many employees are very dedicated to the job and feel personally responsible if an item is stolen from the store.
He added he stopped Novitvke before she ran into the alleyway and told her, “There is nothing I’ve got that’s worth any chance of you getting hurt.”
The suspect then managed to dart down University Avenue, Williamson said. However, he was lost in the crowd until Williamson saw the thief ducking into a back entryway of a church.
Novitvke then chased Guthrie back down Gilman Street, she said.
Although the police were alerted, they did not recognize Guthrie because he was no longer wearing camouflage, Williamson said.
“I wasn’t thinking about what I was going to do if I caught him; I was just thinking that these Ugg boots weren’t made for running,” Novitvke said.
According to Williamson, two men saw Novitvke running up State Street in only a T-shirt and asked her if the man she was chasing stole something.
The two men tackled the thief in front of Sacred Feather on 417 State St., Williamson said.
Williamson said when Novitvke returned to the store, 45 minutes later, she was still carrying the Coca-Cola she was drinking before the incident.
Although this is not his first robbery, Williamson said he has watchful employees so installing cameras is not necessary.
—Rachel Vesco contributed to this report
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People still wear Uggs? I’m surprised to hear that trend has not yet crashed and burned.
“A clerk from Sports World on State Street chased a coat thief through downtown Madison Wednesday wearing nothing but a T-shirt, leggings and Ugg boots.”
Well, if you’re going to tell us what kind of boots they were wearing, why not tell us the kind of leggings and t-shirt as well. What does the fact of them wearing uggs have to do with anything?
Reason 478 of why Ugg boots suck: They cause you to slow down when trying to catch a burglar.
so did they catch him and get the jacket back or was the coke the only thing she brought back??
Lol he couldn’t outrun Uggz… Deserved to get caught
this story is hilarious. made my day.
This article is poorly written and hard to follow
My dear, dear, Badger Herald! You people need either to obtain some badly needed proportion, or else change your name to “The Badger Safety Patrol News.” This is simply NOT a story that warrants front-page coverage in any self-respecting newspaper. Are you absolutely committed to conveying so-called news that sensationalizes rather than enlightens? This third-grade standard of “news” and “information” caters to the fears and insecurities, as opposed to the good will and common sense of the student body in this town. It is regrettable, to say the least.
Well, in all fairness, I guess I should temper my critical comments with a positive compliment. The positive: I find your editorial page and the policies that govern it to be vastly more sensible, relevant and progressive than that of the other campus daily, which is surprising and ironic in light of the history of both publications. Yet it seems your front page reportage has descended to the level of an almost hysterical, fear-mongering police blotter.
You folks know as well as I do that there is a veritable plethora of real issues taking place in and near the UW Campus. Issues having to do with socio-economic equality in the nation as a whole, and which impact the campus as well. Why not begin a series that deals with the scandalous situation surrounding the Federal Student Loan and Grant programs, for example? How about a critical analysis of the UW’s purported “green,” environmentally conscientious initiatives? Come on, you guys! The Herald has for years amply demonstrated that you possess a wealth of talent that is being blatantly under-utilized in practice. You can, and should, do FAR better.
Perhaps a story like this belongs on page four, but NEVER on page one. And, although I hate to rock your insular, exclusive little world with the awful yet obvious truth, incidents like the one described here will continue to occur with increasing frequency, in a society that is experiencing the worst economic downturn in 80 years! I’m not justifying the offense that allegedly took place, but it would be highly commendable if you sought out worse offenses, and worse offenders who are more highly placed in the societal pecking order. When was the last time you focused on reporting white collar crimes whose impact can be measured in millions, rather than hundreds of dollars?
Now is a good time to broaden your scope and come to terms with your tendency to dumb down the readership with such a relatively trivial focus.
Hell yeah 4:58 p.m.! Start stepping it up BH, the Cardinal already blows ass, I want to read something news worthy instead of a girl running down a thief in Ugg boots
have to say, the lede does read a bit like an onion article.
see! coasties are good for something afterall!
Coasties to the rescue. Who would have thought?
Yeah…Uggs is totally irrelevant. Just b/c people pay a lot of money to get them you had to include it?
Really, 4:58? It is a college newspaper. The BH isn’t the New York Times, and it’s not supposed to be, it reports primarily on local events because it’s a local newspaper. You’re crazy.