A usual Thursday night in Madison turned violent when police found a resident being beaten in the Equinox Apartments by up to four assailants.
Residents of the Equinox gathered in the lobby in confusion as everyone tried to piece together what was going on.
According to the police report, victim Daniel Berg, 24, of Madison, had previously stolen a laptop from arrested suspects Tidane Ahmed, 20, of Madison, and Diallo Ahmed, 21, of Madison.
The two suspects found Berg on State Street Thursday night and managed to bring him back to their apartment in the Equinox, where they beat him for several hours with the help of two other suspects, the report said.
Berg finally reached the Madison police via cell phone. According to the report, the Madison Police Department dispatched seven police cars as well as one ambulance and one fire truck to the Equinox.
When police arrived, Tidane Ahmed and Diallo Ahmed were taken into custody and Berg was taken to the hospital with non life-threatening injuries, the report said.
Berg was wanted for parole violation, and after being treated was taken to jail. The report added two other suspects are still at large.
Ald. Mike Verveer, who represents District 4 where the crime took place, could express nothing but surprise at the incident.
“My reaction is one of shock and amazement,” Verveer said. “In all the years I’ve followed crime downtown, I can’t think of an incident that comes close to this one.”
Verveer characterized the incident as “vigilante justice,” urging Madison residents not to take the law into their own hands. He wondered why the suspects did not simply call 911 when they realized the laptop was stolen.
He added he thought there must be more to the story than what is listed in the report, saying without more details, the events just do not add up.
“This is so absurd,” Verveer said. “When I first heard about someone being beat up at the Equinox, I just assumed it could be a random act of violence. I never in a million years thought the story would have played out like this.”
