The Madison Police department is not optimistic about catching a reported “suspicious person” after a victim waited a week to file a report.

According to the police report, a man driving a rusty blue Astro van and potentially holding a hand gun approached the 20-year-old victim early April 2 on the 500 block of West Wilson Street.

Madison police spokesperson Joel DeSpain said the victim, who was walking his bike at the time the suspect approached him, immediately got back on his bike and pedaled away. DeSpain said there were no words exchanged between the suspect and victim during the encounter, but the victim said he felt as if he was going to be mugged.

The victim waited until April 9 to file a complaint on the incident, the  report said. DeSpain said the gap between when the incident occurred and when the victim reported it has severely diminished the chances of authorities identifying the suspect.

“His first instinct was to get out of there, which was a good one,” DeSpain said of the victim. “But then as soon as he got to somewhere where he felt safe, he should have called us. That would have assisted us in at least trying to determine what this person is up to.”

DeSpain said this incident is not being considered an attempted mugging, since no such actions were actually taken by the suspect. He said muggings are not typically a common issue in Madison.

While this particular incident has no pattern of similar reoccurrences, DeSpain said it is important to address these issues for the sake of the public good.