Due to five incidents of downtown criminal activity last weekend, Madison police are urging students and citizens to play it safe.

Between midnight Sept. 17 and close to 3:30 a.m. Sept. 18, three batteries, a strong-arm robbery and an assault and robbery occurred within the State Street area.

“This weekend was a very big weekend,” Lieutenant of Detectives Sue Williams said.

The robberies and assaults appear to be random group activity, and detectives are currently investigating the incidents, according to Williams. In the majority of the cases, groups consisting of 12 to 15 members were responsible for the attacks, according to both Williams and Lieutenant Mary Schauf.

“The city is taking [these assaults] very seriously because they are not like typical bar-time fights,” Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said.

Williams agreed, saying, “In the past we have seen nothing like last weekend.”

“This is alarming to everyone,” she added.

The area where most of the robberies and attacks are occurring is on less-populated side streets late at night, according to Verveer.

Two people have been arrested so far in relation to the incidents.

Mario Johnson, 19, was charged with underage drinking, substantial battery and battery early Saturday morning. Johnson allegedly attacked two men, Travis Knapp and Ron Bundy, around 1 a.m. near the corner of Gilman and State streets, according to Williams.

Information regarding the other suspects arrested was not available at press time.

“The victim and his friends were walking in that area at unfortunately the wrong place and the wrong time,” Williams said.

Both Knapp and Bundy were injured during the attacks and had possessions stolen, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.

Between late Friday night and early Saturday morning, a strong-arm robbery occurred at the corner of Broom and State streets. Three batteries also took place on the 100 block of East Doty Street, the 200 block of State Street and the 100 block of North Bassett Street, Williams added.

“People should take extra precautions at that time of night in that area because of the scary stuff that we’ve experienced for the over the past month,” Verveer said.

As of Sept. 21, Williams said there was no connection between the assault of Knapp and Bundy and the four other incidents. Detectives are looking at the issue broadly, but are paying attention to the possibility of a larger and connected group causing the attacks, she added.

The men appear to be in their teens or early 20s.

Schauf also said police are following up on leads and building criminal cases to look for a common trend.

“The police are taking these attacks very seriously and are doing everything they can given their staffing resources to try and solve the cases,” he added.

The police are looking to students to help in the investigations.

“What the police department needs from [students] is citizen help,” Williams said. “We need everything we can do to find out who the attackers are.”

Williams stressed that police are working to keep the State Street area and side streets safe, and that officers are concerned about the group attacks.

Police are currently looking at how they can efficiently station officers around areas of concern, Schauf added.

Williams said the incidents are frightening to both citizens and police officers and she encourages students to follow up with the police if they are witness to any assaults or crimes.

“We need to know about [attacks]. We need witnesses to stick around and try to make contact with the officers,” Williams said.

Police need help in these situations because chaos and confusion surrounds them, Williams added, noting officers have to attempt to attend to the victim’s welfare while trying to keep the suspect from fleeing the scene as well as keeping witnesses from leaving the area.

“Witnesses may think we don’t care or don’t want to talk but we’re really reaching out to the community to ask everyone to help be our eyes and ears,” Williams added.

The largest safety tip police officers give is to drink responsibly and to not become an easy target.

“Stay with friends, go in groups and stay in well-lit areas, those are the big ones to follow,” Williams said.

One of the largest problems police have encountered has been a lack of detailed attacker descriptions. In a majority of the incidents, the victims were intoxicated and unable to give thorough descriptions of the suspects, Verveer and Williams noted.

If witnesses are hesitant to talk, they can call police or fill out an anonymous report through Crime Stoppers on the Madison Police Department website.