Crime in brief

Baldwin Street: Fire

A residential building at 420 S. Baldwin St. caught fire Saturday night.

None of the seven residents of the apartment were injured by the blaze, Madison Fire Department spokesperson Eric Dahl said. He said firefighters were also able to rescue pet cats that lived in the apartment.

An MFD statement said firefighters controlled the blaze in ten minutes and the fire caused around $125,000 in damage.

The statement said the fire started in the laundry area of the apartment’s second floor. Dahl said MFD was unsure of the its cause.

He said the second floor suffered from heavy fire and smoke damage. Dahl said the third floor had some smoke damage, and the first floor had very light smoke damage.

The building that caught fire is an old, two-story house with an attic that had been made into three apartments.

Dahl said in order to prevent house fires, he recommends keeping equipment clean and following operating instruction when using and cleaning appliances. He also said walking away from a stove while something is cooking also frequently causes fires, which is how the fire at Taqueria Guadalajara started last month.

“Make sure your smoke alarms at home are working and think about how you’re going to get out if there is a fire,” Dahl said. “Have a plan and practice it.”

Mifflin Street: Sexual Assault

A 22-year-old woman was sexually assaulted by a group of men on the 200 block of W. Mifflin Street early Saturday morning at 1:00 am.

According to a Madison Police Department statement, the woman said three men followed her when she left an area bar. She said they were drinking at the same tavern, the statement said.

She said one of the men pulled her to the ground as she was walking and touched her inappropriately over her clothing, the statement said. She said she did not remember many details from the event and was found on the sidewalk Saturday morning, it said.

Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said he hopes police will be able to identify the suspects through the surveillance cameras bars have or from a security camera of a business around the area of where the attack occurred. He said it is unfortunate there are no city sidewalk surveillance cameras on Mifflin, which are mainly located on State Street and University Avenue.

“To physically knock down the victim or pull her to the ground is very shocking especially on a downtown commercial street,” Verveer said.

Orchard Street: Burglary

Madison police arrested a 44-year-old man for burglary after he attempted to break into two different locked entrances to a home on the 300 block of S. Orchard Street.

Two people inside of the Orchard Street residence called police when they heard the suspect, Eric Griffin, banging on the doors.

Griffin told police he was at the doors because he heard there was a party in the area, according to an MPD statement.  Police arrested Griffin for violating parole.

East Washington Avenue: Drunk Driver

A 37-year-old man was arrested for drunk driving on the 3700 block of East Washington Avenue shortly before 2:00 am on Saturday morning.

Madison Police stopped the driver of an SUV when they saw the vehicle swerving across traffic lanes in the streets around East Washington.

According to an MPD statement, this is the fifth time the driver, Clarence Graham, has been arrested for operating under the influence.