Strong-Arm Robbery

Jenifer Street

A Madison woman became the victim of a strong-arm robbery last week, a Madison Police report said.

According to the report, a 53-year-old woman walking Wednesday on the 1100 block of Jenifer Street started a “tug of war” match with a 20- to 30-year-old man for her purse. The suspect evidently pulled on the woman’s purse so violently she was pulled into the street.

When the woman relinquished the purse, the suspect fled in an escape vehicle, likely a tan four door, the report said.

Ald. Marsha Rummel, District 6, said the incident was especially serious for the area, but neighborhood policing efforts are helping to keep crime down in the neighborhood.

West Towne Mall

Robbery

Another MPD report said another woman, this time from Fitchburg, became the victim of a robbery late last Tuesday evening at West Towne Mall.

The report said the woman resisted the suspect, described as a man in his late teens, but the suspect punched her mouth and then ran away with her pocketbook after trying to snatch it from her as she entered her car.

The teenage suspect is a thin black male who was wearing a grey hat with ear flaps and a red and gray plaid coat at the time of the crime, the report added.

Zeier Road

Robbery

Continuing the theme of holiday shopping robberies, MPD arrested four Madison teenagers for robbing a 33-year-old man near East Towne Mall.

The four teenagers were wearing masks when they approached the man at a bus stop after going to Best Buy Friday afternoon, the report said. After receiving a command from one of the teenagers, another member of the crew struck the man and attempted to snatch his backpack.

Police caught up to the suspects, and discovered their masks were shoplifted, a report said. One of the suspects was wearing two pairs of pants, not in case he got a hole in one, but instead to cover up the fact he had stolen the interior pair, the report added.

Shots Fired

Hammersley Road

Another MPD report said a man on Madison’s southwest side reported hearing shots fired outside of his residence early Friday morning.

The man did not report any injuries in connection with the incident, but the report said he saw a white car appearing to be a Saturn pass his home and then saw three to four shots fired from the car. Police scanned the area and found three shells, the report added.

Burglary

Raymond Road

A 20-year-old Madison man is in jail on charges including armed burglary after trying to rob a Pizza Extreme on Madison’s southwest side.

An MPD report said Jerelle Orr tried robbing two stores in the area with a kitchen knife but was stopped when an MPD officer saw him trying to rob the pizza parlor.

The report added Orr turned the knife on himself and threatened to kill himself with the knife. He then was taken to the hospital with “superficial knife wounds.”