Hoofer's sail-kite stolen
A Hoofers sail kite reportedly worth $600 was stolen at Vilas Park yesterday morning after it became stuck in a tree during an instructional lesson Jan. 29.
According to a Hoofers representative, the Hoofers instructor and student, unable to get the kite down Sunday, left the kite in the tree overnight and planned on returning the next day to retrieve it.
When the instructor returned at 7 a.m. Monday, the kite was still there. However, the instructor needed more equipment to get it down. Upon returning an hour later, the instructor found the kite had disappeared.
According to a Madison Police Department release, park employees saw someone in a blue pick-up truck with a plow on the front pulling the kite down from the tree.
"It was equipment that was donated to us, too," Hoofers sailing instructor Brian Borkovec said. "It was someone trying to help out our program and now someone is trying to hurt it."
Borkovec said the winter sail kite program was recently added to Hoofers sailing program last semester.
A variation on the more mainstream sport of sail kiting on water, winter sail kite participants are propelled across snow or ice on skis or snowboards by a 5-and-a-half sq. meter kite.
Since December, Borkovec said Hoofers has held about 30 lessons.
Police ask anyone with information on the sail kite's whereabouts to contact Crime Stoppers at 266-6014.
5-year-old falls out of building
A five-year-old boy is in stable condition after falling out of a fifth floor apartment on 2 Langdon St. Saturday night.
According to a Madison Police Department release, the five-year-old was reportedly playing with another child in the apartment, when he opened a window and pushed out the screen.
A few minutes later, adults looking for the children saw the screen to the window was missing, and at approximately 9:50 p.m., Madison police officers responded to the report.
The release stated the child's family recently moved to Madison from another country to attend the University of Wisconsin.
