EAST WASHINGTON AVENUE

Battery

A 28-year-old male was assaulted by three unidentified male suspects early morning Wednesday morning, according to a Madison Police Department report.

The report said the victim, an employee at the BP Station on East Washington Avenue, was helping a female customer when a male customer began to harass the woman.

According to MPD spokesperson Joel DeSpain, the employee asked the suspect to leave if he was not purchasing anything, and the suspect responded violently. The employee left the cashier’s booth to escort the man out and was then attacked by the suspect and the two other men with him.

The victim was thrown into a wall and beaten, according to the report.  He suffered scratches and contusions but was not hospitalized.

DeSpain confirmed the suspects have not been identified and are still at-large. He said while similar incidents are unusual on East Washington Avenue, MPD has recently focused efforts in the area to combat the rising heroin epidemic.

“At the far reaches of [the area], we’ve had some special initiatives for the last couple of months,” DeSpain said. “That’s one of the areas we’ve focused on to disrupt heroin use and dealing, but certainly we do see on occasion robberies that take place.”

SOUTH PARK STREET

Robbery

An unidentified suspect robbed a Clark gas station on South Park Street Tuesday. According to an MPD report, the clerk was held up by a man wielding a knife but was unharmed by the incident.

The clerk described the suspect as a black male wearing blue jeans and a green hooded sweatshirt, the report said. He also wore a white mask or towel over his face.

Police suspect a recent rash of robberies in the South Park Street area may have been carried out by the same individual, DeSpain said.

“We’ve had a couple of robberies in that area with the same suspect description,” DeSpain said. “We believe it may be one person responsible for the armed robberies in the area.”

This case has been assigned to a detective and is still under investigation, MPD Sergeant Linda Covert said in an interview.

SOUTH GAMMON ROAD

Retail Theft

Two Madison women were arrested last Friday for retail theft at a Woodman’s grocery store on South Gammon Road.

According to the police report, the two female suspects were stopped by Woodman’s employees after allegedly attempting to leave with a bag of cosmetics they had not paid for. Kelley then attacked a security officer, punching him several times in the face and chest, as he tried to bring her back into the store to pay for the items.

Nearly $100 worth of cosmetic products were in the bag, the report said.

One of the women did not resist and was cited and released for retail theft, according to the report. The other was eventually handcuffed by the Woodman’s security officer and was later arrested by police for aggravated battery and retail theft.

The security officer was not seriously injured, DeSpain said.