Madison police arrested a man early Tuesday morning after he chased his former girlfriend down North Mills Street with a knife and a hammer.
Around 1:30 a.m., the 19-year-old woman was visiting a 29-year-old male friend at an apartment complex on the 100 block of North Mills Street.
While she and the friend were outside smoking a cigarette, Derrick McCradic, 52, came out of the same apartment building with a knife and a hammer and began to chase her down the block.
According Madison Police Department spokesperson Joel DeSpain, the victim ran southbound on North Mills Street and dropped her cell phone, money and some cigarettes, which were later found with McCradic, causing him to be charged with theft.
The woman hid under a truck parked on the corner of Fahrenbrook Court and Mills Street and tossed pebbles at a nearby house in an attempt to wake someone who could help her, DeSpain said.
Eventually someone at the residence woke up and helped her by calling the police and allowing her into the house. The woman does not live in that area and is not a University of Wisconsin student, DeSpain said.
Police arrested McCradic at gunpoint a short distance away just before 4 a.m. They confiscated the hammer and the knife from his residence.
On Oct. 29, McCradic had a domestic abuse restraining order filed against him by a 19-year-old woman, online court records showed, but police could not confirm if both cases involved the same woman. This was his second restraining order.
McCradic had an eviction filed against him Nov. 3, from Porchlight, Inc., a low-cost housing unit located at 306 North Brooks Street extending to the 100 block of North Mills Street.
A representative at Porchlight, Inc. said they provide mostly permanent housing for people who were formerly homeless and who were referred to them by other programs. According to their website, they serve more than 450 people each year.
According to online court records, McCradic was also charged with disorderly conduct and bail jumping for a misdemeanor on Nov. 3.
McCradic was also charged with disorderly conduct and concealing a weapon in October, court records showed.
