REGENT STREET 

Robbery

Three teenage boys remain at large after robbing two of their acquaintances of money and drugs at Hoyt Park on Regent Street Wednesday evening.

According to a Madison Police Department report, the two victims offered different accounts as to what exactly happened – one alleged they were threatened with a gun while the second victim claimed it was a strong-armed robbery, though both agreed cash and a container of marijuana were taken.

MPD spokesperson Joel DeSpain said the department received a hung-up 911 call from an onlooker, and because the city responds to all hang-up calls, officers were able to locate the victims on a park bench.

EAST MIFFLIN STREET 

Animal Complaint

MPD officers spotted a small dog walking down East Mifflin Street without a leash with its owner slowly following behind in her vehicle Monday evening, an MPD report said.

Complaints had previously been made against the woman for allowing the dog to wander freely, but officers had not been able to locate the suspect until witnessing the incident firsthand.

The 70-year old woman was ticketed for permitting a dog to run at large and was told despite her disability, she was required to find an alternative way to exercise her dog, the report said.

CLOVER LANE 

Weapons Violation

A 17-year-old Madison man was arrested for disorderly conduct and unlawful use of a facsimile firearm after MPD officers were forced to create a perimeter around the suspect Tuesday evening.

According to an MPD report, officers had to call in a canine unit as they swept the neighborhood for the suspect, who had allegedly been spotted with a gun in the 3300 block of Clover. Police later discovered the suspect had a BB gun that had been used to recently shoot at targets.

“Certainly if we think we have someone with a gun acting in a threatening way in a neighborhood, we will try to keep people inside – anytime you have someone with a real gun or a gun that looks like a real gun, we notify the neighborhood until we have a firm understanding,” DeSpain said. 

FRISCH ROAD 

Overdose

An MPD dog was dispatched to help locate a suicidal woman who had left her house Thursday evening after taking a potentially lethal dose of prescription drugs and leaving suicide notes behind for her family.

Police dog Slim was able to locate the Madison woman after officers exhausted their search without luck. According to an MPD report, the woman had taken all the pills in a bottle and could have died because of the cold temperatures outside.

“There are a lot of these police dogs that are multipurpose and can track people and narcotics,” DeSpain said. “They track people who could be missing or endangered, as was the case in this incident.”

FORDEM AVENUE 

Disorderly Conduct

A 48-year-old Madison man was arrested for disorderly conduct after showing up unannounced at a 24-year-old cognitively disabled woman’s home and making sexual gestures toward the woman, an MPD report said.

The man, Francois Shorten, works for a van service the woman uses to get to and from her workplace. After Shorten began to kiss the victim on the neck, the woman became scared and was able to force the man out.

Shorten said he did not realize the extent of the woman’s cognitive disability before the incident – the woman has cognitive abilities of around a seventh or eighth grader, the report said.