Madison police are investigating both a robbery and attempted robbery at separate businesses on East Washington Street that they suspect may be related.

Robbery: East Washington Street

According to an incident report from the Madison Police, a suspect entered the Loan Max at 3066 E. Washington St. Monday. Police report the suspect “implied” he had a weapon.

“Implied means he had a hand in his pocket and making it look like he had a weapon but the clerk never saw one,” police spokesperson Joel DeSpain said.

The suspect then made off with money from the cash drawer, the report said. DeSpain said police brought in a dog to track the suspect, but have yet to find him.

Attempted Robbery: East Washington Street 

A suspect attempted robbery on Sunday at Batteries Plus, located at 3721 E. Washington St., according to a police report.

The report said the suspect entered the building with his hand in his pocket, leading the clerk to believe he was carrying a gun.

The suspect then seemed startled by another employee walking into the room during the incident and fled the scene “empty-handed,” the report said. The report said there were two victims: a female, age 30 and a male, age 29.

DeSpain said it is unconfirmed at this time as to whether or not these two robberies are related.

“I think at this point we can’t rule this out but we don’t have a key suspect in either one so it is hard to say for sure,” DeSpain said. “But certainly in time and proximity and the general description, there is certainly a possibility.”

Both reports said the suspects in both cases are black males about 6-feet tall, and weigh between 180 and 210 pounds.

DeSpain said there was also a robbery yesterday in the nearby town of DeForest, so police are talking to the department there to see if there are any similarities between the incident there and those in Madison.

According to DeSpain, there is a typical way in which detectives go about investigating robberies such as these.

“Typically with cases like these we will collect forensic information, take a look at surveillance video and share our information with surrounding police departments,” DeSpain said.

Although the police department is currently following leads in both incidents, they do not have names for either suspects at this time, DeSpain said.