Map: Latest Madison-area crime reports (2024)

A shed fire early Sunday morning killed 52 chickens, the Dane County Sheriff’s Office reported.

The fire was reported shortly before 4:30 a.m. at 2160 Highway 73, with deputies and the Cambridge and Deerfield fire departments responding.

The pole shed was destroyed, with $25,000 estimated damage, according to a Sheriff’s Office news release.

The release said the fire did not appear suspicious, with the preliminary investigation indicating a possible electrical issue as the cause.

Two people were taken to a hospital Saturday afternoon after what the Dane County Sheriff’s Office called a “disturbance between two individuals” in the town of Deerfield.

Some media reports said there were reports of shots fired, but the Sheriff’s Office didn’t release many details about the incident that happened shortly before 2 p.m.

In a news release Saturday night, the Sheriff’s Office said that “Deputies and detectives are currently investigating this incident which is on-going. The Dane County Sheriff’s Office would like citizens to know there is no current danger to the public as a result of this disturbance. Further details will be released at a later date regarding this investigation.”

On Sunday morning, the Sheriff’s Office said no more information would be released until Monday.

A Madison man escaped injury Friday night after someone fired a gun at his van, shattering the driver's side window.

It happened at about 11 p.m. in the 200 block of Baldwin Street, Madison police said in a news release.

Arriving officers found an empty van on the street that had rolled into a parked car, with witnesses telling police a man had walked away from the van.

"He turned up later at the Metro Transit bus facility on East Washington Avenue," said police spokesman Joel DeSpain.

The 35-year-old victim told police he was driving in the area when someone called out for him to stop.

"He stopped and two men approached the van, one carrying a handgun," DeSpain said. "The victim said there were two shots, including the one that shattered the window."

One shell casing was recovered by police.

"He claimed he didn't know why he was confronted," DeSpain said. "He said he saw the two men before, at various night spots, but he didn't know their names."

The first suspect is an Hispanic male, 20 to 29 years old, 5 feet 10 inches tall, slender build, wearing a baseball cap, black hooded sweatshirt and shorts.

The second suspect is a black male, 20 to 20 years old, wearing a red hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans.

The Dane County Sheriff's Office released little new information Monday about a disturbance that left two people injured Saturday in the town of Deerfield, except for the identity of the two injured.

Yadiel Nunez-Munoz, 18, Orlando, and Alvaro Avila-Jimenez, 40, Villa Park, Ill., were injured in the fight between themselves reported at about 1:50 p.m. Saturday, the Sheriff's Office said in a news release on Monday.

Other than the identification of the two involved, no details were released as to how they were injured or if any charges were forthcoming.

"More information will be released on Tuesday," spokeswoman Elise Schaffer told Madison.com.

Some media reports said the disturbance involved gun fire, and Schaffer confirmed to Madison.com on Monday that a gun was involved, but couldn't say if either party was shot.

The two men were taken to UW Hospital, with Nunez-Munoz released on Sunday night, while Avila-Jimenez remained in the hospital.

"Deputies were conducting interviews and processing evidence on Monday," Schaffer said.

A Utah man's van hung up after driving on railroad tracks on the East Side Saturday night caused a traffic jam because the railroad safety gates came down, blocking East Washington Avenue.

Daniel Blankenship, 25, Sandy, Utah, was cited for alleged drunken driving at about 10:40 p.m. Saturday, Madison police said in a news release.

The van was about 600 feet off of East Washington Avenue, stuck on the tracks because of a flat tire.

"Police notified the railroad to keep trains away while the situation was remedied," said police spokesman Joel DeSpain. "The driving error somehow triggered the safety gates to come down."

Blankenship, who got out of the van on the driver's side, tried to convince police he had not been driving the van.

A 19-year-old Madison man suffered facial injuries early Sunday when he allegedly was punched by another man inside a State Street restaurant.

The suspect, Deonte Thompson, 23, no address, was found by police later on and was arrested for battery and disorderly conduct, Madison police said in a news release.

The incident happened at about 1:10 a.m. Sunday in State Street Brats, 603 State St.

"The victim said he was pushed hard and punched several times in the head," said police spokesman Joel DeSpain.

A Madison woman was arrested Friday after she allegedly threatened another woman with a knife outside a Far East Side residence.

Zeniecia Anderson, 25, was tentatively charged with second-degree reckless endangerment and intimidating a victim, Madison police said in a news release.

The 35-year-old victim from Madison was not seriously injured.

Police said:

A resident in the 300 block of Parkwood Lane called police after finding two women fighting outside at about 6:30 a.m.

"One was on top of the other, throwing punches," said police spokesman Joel DeSpain.

The witness told the women she was calling police, so the fight ended, for the moment.

"The suspect went to her home and allegedly got a knife," DeSpain said.

She allegedly lunged at the victim while holding the knife, with the victim telling police she heard the suspect say "You are new here, you need to mind your own business."

"The victim was very frightened as she allegedly was pushed against her front door, the suspect holding the knife a few inches from her face," DeSpain said.

Police found the suspect a short while later and made an arrest.

Madison police caught one of three teens seen entering unlocked cars on the city's East Side early Sunday.

A citizen called 911 at about 1:40 a.m. Sunday after seeing three teens with flashlights going into parked cars in the 3500 block of Cherry Street, police said in a news release.

"An officer spotted one of the teens inside a car in the 3700 block of Brigham Avenue," said police spokesman Joel DeSpain.

The teen took off running but was caught by the officer.

He tentatively was arrested for theft from a motor vehicle.

Police found a back pack containing alleged stolen items behind a home on Brigham Avenue.

The odor of marijuana smoke led Madison officers to an SUV Friday night, with police finding a loaded handgun stolen in 2012 inside the vehicle.

Charles Nance, 28, Madison, was arrested for carrying a concealed weapon and receiving stolen property, Madison police said in a news release.

The incident happened at about 11 p.m. Friday in the State Street Campus Garage, 415 N. Lake St.

"The man driving the SUV pulled into the garage, with officers approaching it because the smell of marijuana smoke was emanating from a window," said police spokesman Joel DeSpain.

Nance, a passenger in the SUV, claimed ownership of the .357 Magnum handgun, saying he bought it off of Craigslist.

"He later said he actually bought the gun from someone he met at a liquor store parking lot," DeSpain said.

The gun had been stolen in a burglary on the West Side in 2012

A UW-Madison student was shocked with a stun gun and arrested during a disturbance at a campus residence hall Monday, UW-Madison police said.

UW student Shane Franke was tentatively charged with battery to a police officer, tadisorderly conduct and resisting arrest, following an incident at Sellery Hall, 821 W. Johnson St., said Marc Lovicott, a spokesman for UW police.

Around 4:20 p.m., officers were called to the residence hall for a report of a man -- later identified as Franke -- being disruptive. Officers intervened after he refused housing staff's request that he leave. At that point,Franke allegedly became violent and caused a hand injury to one of the police officers. The struggle prompted officers to use a Taser to subdue him, Lovicott said.

Both Franke and the officer were taken to the hospital for evaluation. The officer is expected to fully recover, Lovicott said.

A pedestrian walking across East Washington Avenue Monday night was struck by a vehicle, with the driver cited for failing to yield to a pedestrian in a marked crosswalk.

The crash happened at about 9 p.m. at the intersection with South Blount Street, Madison police said in a news release.

The 50-year-old woman hit by the vehicle suffered a broken arm and other non-life-threatening injuries, and was admitted to a hospital for observation.

The unidentified 74-year-old driver wasn't hurt.

Police said:

The pedestrian was crossing East Washington Avenue in a marked crosswalk at Blount Street, walking north, when she was struck.

"Witnesses said other drivers saw the pedestrian in the crosswalk and were slowing down or stopping when the collision occurred," the release said.

Wisconsin statutes require drivers to yield to pedestrians in marked crosswalks if they already are in the crosswalk.

Two boys wearing masks and toting handguns were arrested at gunpoint by Madison police Monday, with the weapons turning out to be facsimiles of real guns.

The 12-year-old boys were cited and released to responsible adults.

It happened at about 4:40 p.m. in the Hob Street and Camden Road area on the East Side, Madison police said in a news release.

"The boys were confronted by officers at gunpoint, where they surrendered their handguns and were taken into custody," the release said.

The fake guns normally have bright orange tips at the end of the barrels, but the tips on both guns were painted black.

"It gave the impression that they were authentic handguns," the release said.

The boys were cited for unlawful use of a facsimile firearm.

Doug Zwank considers the fate of Eric Pizer and thinks, “That could have been me.”

Like Pizer, Zwank is a combat veteran and former corporal in the Marine Corps. And like Pizer, he narrowly escaped death while serving his country overseas.

After returning from Vietnam, Zwank started what would become a long career in law enforcement, first as a special agent for the state Department of Justice, then later training fellow officers at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Georgia. He also worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and served as mayor of Middleton for four years.

But in 1968, when he returned from combat to attend UW-Madison, Zwank was just another angry veteran, traumatized by the deaths of his friends and comrades and trying to unlearn the instincts that had kept him alive at war. He got into fights, Zwank said, but was never arrested.

“It was a time when it wouldn’t take much to haul off and hit somebody,” Zwank recalled.

That’s why Zwank believes it’s a “terrible injustice” that Gov. Scott Walker refuses to pardon Pizer, a decorated Iraq War veteran seeking relief from a felony conviction he received for a fight that happened just days after he returned to Wisconsin from his second combat tour.

Walker said he had no plans to issue pardons while in office.

Four dozen people, including Zwank, have sent emails and letters to Walker, urging him to pardon Pizer, who turns 33 on Tuesday. Just one writer said Pizer should not be given leniency.

Many of those petitioning the governor are veterans, and many are staunch supporters of the Republican governor. Some questioned whether politics was getting in the way of compassion.

Among them was Jeff Engstrom, who attached a photo of himself and his wife attending a Walker campaign event.

“I’ve been processing all the information to the best of my ability and I must tell you that I don’t understand your position,” Engstrom wrote, adding, “I submit Eric Pizer is a classic example of why the power to pardon exists.”

Another Walker supporter, Stan Updike, a member of the Wisconsin Air National Guard from Boscobel, made a similar plea.

“I know your view on pardons,” Updike wrote. “I know you stand strong, that’s why you got my vote, twice. But this issue needs to be addressed.”

Police training

Pizer is looking for relief from the felony conviction after he broke a man’s nose in a fight in Boscobel just days after he returned from Iraq in 2004. Pizer said the punch was a reflex that occurred after the victim came at him from the side — one he deeply regrets.

In the 10 years since he came home, Pizer has earned an associate’s degree in criminal justice with hopes of becoming a police officer. But as a felon, Pizer is prohibited from carrying a gun. He can’t be a cop.

That goal is on hold while Pizer works as a piano mover and at Menards to support himself and his preschool son, Xander.

Walker has refused to issue any pardons, saying they undermine the criminal justice system.

“Early in his administration, Governor Walker made the decision not to issue pardons,” said his spokeswoman, Laurel Patrick. “The criminal justice system has a process by which, if someone’s innocent, they can be granted a change in their sentence through the court system.”

Walker’s main Democratic challenger, Mary Burke, said if elected, she would revive the board that makes recommendations to the governor on pardons. The state Constitution gives only the governor the power to pardon.

Over the past 35 years, Wisconsin governors, both Republicans and Democrats, have issued 986 pardons, according to the Secretary of State’s office, which tracks pardon grants.

Walker supporter Ron Kolenc, of Sheboygan, urged the governor to reconsider his stance.

“It’s the right thing to do morally, ethically and politically,” Kolenc wrote. “I voted for you and I am a supporter of most of your views and actions but on your ‘no pardons no matter what’ position, I strongly disagree.”

A retired police officer shot in the line of duty in 1997 also urged Walker to use his pardon power.

“As a city of Madison police officer, in my 20 years of service, I had the opportunity to give many second chances to people who just needed someone to give them a break for doing something incredibly stupid while in the heat of passion,” Andrew Garcia wrote.

“In many cases, these individuals took that second chance and kept a clean record, becoming model citizens.”

He noted Walker’s unique power to do that for Pizer.

“There are rare times,” Garcia wrote, “when righting an injustice can only be corrected by you.”

Pizer said he’s encouraged by all the support but resigned to the likelihood that Walker will not change his mind.

“I’m to the point where I think my only hope is for Walker to lose the election,” Pizer said. “So far there isn’t a single person who can do anything about it, other than Gov. Walker.”

Warmer weather brings more bicyclists out on the UW-Madison campus, but it also brings out more bicycle thieves.

Bike thefts have nearly doubled on campus over the past year, with 21 thefts investigated so far this year by UW-Madison police through Monday, compared to 11 thefts during that period last year.

Many of those being stolen are high-end cycles worth several thousand dollars.

“Bikes are often targeted by thieves for a variety of reasons, but mainly because they can be easy to steal and easy to turn around for cash,” police spokesman Marc Lovicott said.

Two common threads are being seen in most of the thefts: Either the bikes are unlocked or are secured with cheap cable locks.

Lt. Ruth Ewing said students are advised to invest in an inexpensive bike but a quality, U-style bike lock. Cheap cable locks can be cut in just seconds, Ewing said.

Police are starting up their “bait bike” program once again in an effort to catch bike thieves.

Bait bikes have tracking devices attached so police can follow a stolen bike in real time, hoping to lead to arrests.

“The department has seen huge success with the program over the past few years, with individuals arrested who were responsible for multiple bike thefts on campus,” Lovicott said.

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration admonished colleges and universities — “No more turning a blind eye” — in new guidelines designed to stem sexual assaults on campuses and help the victims.

A White House task force on sexual assault recommends that schools identify trained, confidential victim’s advocates and conduct surveys to better gauge the frequency of sexual assault on their campuses, since these types of crimes are underreported.

Despite comparatively low numbers of reported assaults, national research indicates that 1 in 5 female students is attacked.

Occasional surveys of UW-Madison’s more than 43,000 students show similar rates, even though an average of only 16 campus sexual assaults were formally reported each year from 2010 through 2012, said Dr. Sarah Van Orman, executive director of campus health services.

Madison police counted 33 forcible sexual assaults in 2013 in several off-campus student neighborhoods. The number may include non-student victims, said Central District Lt. Kelly Donahue.

Van Orman said UW-Madison officials welcome the new federal guidelines as sound ways to prevent assaults and to encourage more victims to come forward to get help and to assist in prosecutions.

“We as a campus would think we were doing a better job if the number (of reported sexual assaults) went up at least initially, because that would mean more students were comfortable with reporting,” Van Orman said.

University officials are already doing some things called for in the federal report. A one-hour training on sexual assault topics — including “bystander intervention” techniques — has been offered to first-year students since 2009, and it was made mandatory last year, Van Orman said.

However, a 2007 UW-Madison graduate who has become an activist since reporting being raped as a freshman, said the new rules fall short because they don’t guarantee tough consequences for universities that go easy on rapists.

Laura Dunn, a University of Maryland law student who met with the White House task force, said universities should always expel rapists, but they too seldom take a hard line.

Dunn, founder of SurvJustice, said UW-Madison didn’t pursue penalties in her case because she and one assailant were drunk. She said the county prosecutor told her he might have brought charges, but Wisconsin law at that time didn’t allow a very drunk person to be considered incapable of giving consent for sex. The law was changed in 2006 to treat alcohol like other date-rape drugs.

The federal report says the Justice Department will help develop training programs in trauma care for school officers and assess different models for schools to use to adjudicate such cases, since some sexual assault survivors are wary of a legal process that can open them up to potentially painful or embarrassing questions by students or staff.

It also promises greater transparency. A new website, notalone.gov, posts enforcement actions and offers information to victims about how to seek local help and information about filing a complaint.

The task force is providing a checklist for schools to use in drafting or reevaluating sexual misconduct policies, including ideas a school could consider when defining what is or isn’t consent.

“Prevention and education programs vary widely, with many doing neither well,” the task force said. “And in all too many instances survivors of sexual violence are not at the heart of an institution’s response: They often do not have a safe, confidential place to turn to after an assault, they haven’t been told how the system works and they often believe it is working against them.”

Lisa Maatz, vice president for government affairs with the American Association of University Women, called the recommendations a “game changer” that can “only be helpful in addressing this issue and dealing with it head-on.”

In addition to recommending that schools have a victim advocate, the task force provides to schools a sample reporting and confidentiality protocol and asks that, as a minimum, schools make clear “up front, who on campus will (or will not) share what information with whom.”

Ada Meloy, general counsel at the American Council on Education, said university presidents would likely be applying “the best” of the recommendations.

Many campuses have been working to make improvements, but the issue is complex and some college administrators have sought answers from the federal government about how to interpret federal law. Research has shown that most campus sexual assault victims know their attackers, alcohol or drugs are often involved and only 12 percent of college women attacked report it to police.

A key tool the government has against campus sexual assault is Title IX, which prohibits gender discrimination at schools that get federal money. The 1972 law is better known for guaranteeing girls equal access to sports, but it also regulates institutions’ handling of sexual violence and is increasingly being used by victims who say their school failed to protect them.

Another law that campus sexual assault cases fall under is the Clery Act, which requires colleges and universities to annually report crime statistics on or near their campuses, to develop prevention policies and ensure victims their basic rights.

— Wisconsin State Journal reporter Steven Verburg and Associated Press reporters Kimberly Hefling and Nedra Pickler contributed to this report.

A pizza restaurant was robbed at gunpoint Tuesday night on Madison's Near West Side.

The robbery happened at about 10 p.m. at Pizza Extreme, 1614 Monroe St., Madison police said in a news release.

An employee was working in the kitchen of the restaurant, getting ready to close, when he heard a noise.

"The employee found a man pointing a handgun at him," said Lt. Eric Tripke. "The suspect demanded money and ordered the employee to the front of the store, where he was given an undisclosed amount of money."

The suspect then walked with the employee to the back of the restaurant, ordered the employee to lay down on the floor, and exited through a back door.

The suspect is black, in his late teens or early 20s, 5 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 8 inches tall, medium build, wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt.

Chief Mike Koval formally took the reins of the Madison Police Department on Wednesday with a promise to continue its legacy of community policing .

With Mayor Paul Soglin and former interim Chief Randy Gaber looking on, Koval was sworn in to the job and received the chief’s badge to loud applause at the department’s Southeast Side training center, which was packed with city and law enforcement officials.

In a speech afterward, Koval paid tribute to the department’s history and promised to lead a force committed to civil liberties.

“We’re going to be ever vigilant about constitutional rights and individual liberty,” Koval said. “And if that sounds like ‘Kumbaya Koval’ has come back from the dead, damn right.

“That’s where we’re going.”

Soglin began the afternoon by recounting how former police chief David Couper, who sat in the

audience Wednesday, was picked to lead the department in the early 1970s.

It was Couper, Soglin said, who laid the groundwork for a department that was committed to community policing and set the stage for men like Gaber and Koval to lead it.

“Chief Koval is going into this with that history and that legacy,” Soglin said.

From the city’s history, Soglin said, Koval would carve out a tenure he hoped would see an end to racial disparities in incarceration, poverty and achievement.

“Our police chief comes to this position today welcoming those challenges (and) looking forward to an opportunity to truly make Madison a better place for every single person,” Soglin said.

Before handing over the chief’s badge, Gaber recounted the vast impact Koval has had on the department in 17 years leading its training and recruitment efforts. Three-quarters of Madison’s current officers were trained by Koval, Gaber said, and that work in a “behind-the-scenes” role has had a broad impact on the department.

Many of those officers were in the audience Wednesday afternoon, and the significance of holding the event at the training center where he spent so many hours was not lost on Koval.

“This has been my sanctuary,” Koval said. “To have all these people whose lives have interceded with mine come back and say thanks or acknowledge what you’ve tried to do, it meant a great deal.”

After Gaber pinned the chief’s badge on him, Koval moved into the relaxed persona he’s known for. To start his speech, Koval took off the tie he wore for the ceremony and paced around the stage rather than using the podium, cracking jokes about the intensive application process to be chief and his first meetings with Soglin.

Koval called himself a “hayseed” from Ashland, who grew up in his mother’s “Irish-Catholic matriarchy” and the diverse environs of the Eagle Heights neighborhood and university housing.

He thanked his family for their support and Couper, who went on to become an Episcopal priest, for exposing him to the “theology” of community policing, and reiterated his oft-stated desire for police to be seen as guardians of the public rather than warriors.

At the end of the speech, Koval unveiled a motivational sign inspired by the Notre Dame football team he loves.

It read, “Police like a champion today.”

Three years after an estimated 20,000 people descended on West Mifflin Street in a party marred by stabbings and sexual assaults, police, residents and the area’s City Council member say they don’t expect big crowds or serious problems as the traditional day of the spring block party approaches.

Instead, the event that started in 1969 seems to be in flux yet again, as the focal point for students on the first Saturday in May shifts from packing thousands of people into the houses of one neighborhood to spreading parties all over the city. Combined with the rise of the student-organized Revelry music festival, police and city officials are welcoming what appears to be a new, tamer era for the off-campus rite of spring.

“We’re hoping the event is fundamentally changed,” police spokesman Joel DeSpain said.

That 2011 party was a “watershed moment” for the city, DeSpain said. For Ald. Mike Verveer, 4th District, it marked the day he realized the Mifflin Street Block Party as it was had to “go the way of the dinosaurs.”

The next year officers warned residents ahead of the party and cracked down, issuing hundreds of citations; attendance dropped to an estimated 5,000 people, police said.

By 2013 the event was downright tame by Mifflin standards, with only six people cited and no significant problems.

The nature of the day was different last year, Verveer and others said. Plenty of students still drank, and many of them did so on Mifflin Street, but the parties were spread across student-centric neighborhoods.

“Instead of having it as one party on one street, now it’s broken up into several parties all over the city,” said Collin Horness, a UW-Madison junior who lives on the 400 block of Mifflin Street.

And while the event was once a magnet for partiers from all over the region, DeSpain said, in recent years it has gone back to being a much smaller event geared toward UW students.

Verveer said he hasn’t heard from residents who plan on hosting parties, and noticed that while thousands of people joined Facebook groups for previous years’ events, there’s no such chatter on social media this time around.

He expected Saturday would look like the 2013 block party, or the day the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team played in the Final Four, when students hosted pregame parties around Downtown.

“It still will be a date that students blow off steam and party,” Verveer said, but those parties will also be on Langdon Street and in the neighborhoods north of Regent Street. Not just on Mifflin.

Police are also anticipating this year’s party will look like 2013’s. Extra officers will be on hand, and authorities have contingency plans in case things go south, DeSpain said, but the strategy for police will be the same as it was last year: To cite those flagrantly violating ordinances or throwing huge or loud parties.

“We certainly expect there are some that will carry on tradition and have some house parties,” DeSpain said. But as long as they keep them under control, he said, “that’s not a problem.”

Another Mifflin Street resident, senior Sam Soderberg, said he planned to have a couple of friends over to his house but would be sticking around the neighborhood to make sure nothing got out of hand and his apartment wasn’t damaged. Later in the day, he planned to head to the Memorial Union for Revelry.

After witnessing the “insanity” of the 2011 block party, Soderberg said he has mixed feelings about the way it’s been toned down.

“Every school has their tradition, and Mifflin was well known (as Madison’s), so it’s kind of sad in that aspect,” Soderberg said. Still, he said, “I understand how it’s got to change a little bit.”

Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct the description of the first block party in 1969.

Two Middleton police officers were injured Wednesday while arresting an alleged drunken driver who also allegedly caused a disturbance at a local bar when he was refused service.

Jeremy Childs, 27, Gays Mills, was booked into the Dane County Jail on tentative charges of a fourth offense operating while intoxicated, two counts of battery, five counts of disorderly conduct, battery to a law enforcement officer and resisting an officer causing injury, according to a Middleton police news release.

Police said:

Officers were sent to the Mid-Town Pub, 2405 Allen Blvd., at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, because a man was flipping tables over and pushing customers.

"Employees refused to serve him more alcohol, at which point he became upset, tipped over tables and pushed employees and customers, including two parents eating dinner with their children," the release said.

Childs left in a vehicle, but witnesses were able to give police a description of the vehicle and the license number, with officers topping the vehicle a short time later.

"The suspect failed field sobriety tests and was arrested," the release said. "Upon his arrest, he allegedly struck an officer in the face with his head."

Two officers and Childs were injured during the arrest, but the extent of those injuries was not indicated in the release.

Update: The right lane of the northbound (westbound) lanes of I-39/90 south of Madison has reopened, but the left lane is still closed and will probably reopen around 11 a.m.

All northbound lanes of Interstate 39/90 near Siggelkow Road just south of the Beltline interchange were closed Thursday morning because of a multi-vehicle crash, authorities reported.

The crash happened at about 9 a.m., according to the State Patrol, which said it could be two hours before the scene is cleared.

Reports were sketchy, but the Dane County Sheriff's Office said three vehicles were involved, including a Dane County highway maintenance truck.

Multiple injuries were reported at the scene.

A scam that allows a computer hacker access to your personal data is being reported in Dane County.

The Dane County Sheriff's Office said by news release on Thursday that two people called the office during the past two weeks, after being contacted by a scammer claiming to be with Windows, the computer operating system from Microsoft.

"The caller said they need to do some work on the victim's computer, asking for permission to run a diagnostic test on the computer while talking to the victim on the phone," said Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Elise Schaffer.

In the process, the scammer gets full access to the victim's computer and all of the personal information stored on the computer.

"In one case, the scammer even used the computer's webcam to snap a photo of the victim," Schaffer said.

The Sheriff's Office said never give solicitors access to personal information, either by email, telephone or at the door.

A Walmart employee told a man demanding money he had none, ending a robbery attempt on the city's West Side last week as the suspect fled the store with nothing.

Police found the suspect and a female accomplice through surveillance video and arrested them on Wednesday.

Nathan Pahl, 26, Madison, and Lindsay Brey, 22, Madison, were tentative charged with attempted robbery, Madison police said in a news release.

The attempted robbery happened on April 25 at about 12:30 p.m. at Walmart, 7202 Watts Road.

Police said:

Brey allegedly drove Pahl to Walmart that day, with Pahl going into the store and handing a note to an employee.

"He claimed to have a gun and demanded money," said police spokesman Joel DeSpain. "The employee told the suspect he had no money so the suspect fled."

The case detective was able to identify the suspect in part thanks to store surveillance images.

Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney said deputies will be stepping up their enforcement of laws requiring drivers to move over or slow down for roadside crews after a pair of crashes involving highway maintenance workers this week.

A Dane County highway worker was treated at a hospital on Wednesday after a driver hit the maintenance vehicle he was in, and on Thursday morning a woman suffered serious injuries after crashing into another maintenance vehicle on Interstate 39-90, County Executive Joe Parisi said.

Workers were standing a few feet away from the vehicle Thursday morning and could have also been seriously injured, Parisi said.

The crash, which happened just south of Madison, backed up northbound Interstate traffic for miles.

At a news conference Thursday afternoon with law enforcement and county officials, Mahoney and Parisi reminded drivers to stay attentive, particularly in work zones.

“The only thing between our employees and the cars is often an orange cone,” Parisi said.

Mahoney did not know if the drivers in the two crashes had been cited, but said authorities plan to keep an eye out for drivers who aren’t taking caution around workers.

Drivers are required to move into far lanes for roadside crews or, if they can’t do that, slow down. The fine if they don’t is $264, Mahoney said, which can be doubled in work zones.

“Move over, slow down if you can’t move over, and make sure that you get where you’re going at the end of your trip, and that our employees go home at the end of the day,” Mahoney said.

TOWN OF PRIMROSE — A Dane County sheriff’s deputy fatally shot a man who had stabbed two other deputies during a disturbance Thursday afternoon at a home near New Glarus, authorities said.

Three deputies responded to a call about 12:30 p.m. to a house at 233 Hanna Road in the town of Primrose and found an elderly man and woman with head injuries, Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney said at a briefing Thursday evening outside UW Hospital, where Lt. Brian Hayes and Deputy Roger Finch were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.

The couple found in the home appeared to have been beaten, Mahoney said.

Hayes and Finch, who were checking the home for a third occupant, were on an open spiral staircase when a man attacked them, stabbing them in the legs with a knife, Mahoney said. The third deputy, whom Mahoney did not identify, fired gunshots at the assailant, who died at the scene.

The man who was killed was the son of the injured couple, Mahoney said.

Mahoney said the shooting would be investigated by city of Madison, Sun Prairie, Fitchburg and UW police, but added that the Sheriff’s Office had used outside agencies to investigate shootings involving its officers even before a new state law required the practice.

This is the second officer-involved fatal shooting in Wisconsin since the law took effect. On Wednesday, a Milwaukee police officer shot and killed a man after a struggle in a popular downtown park.

Both Dane County deputies were airlifted to UW Hospital, Mahoney said. Hayes, whose injuries were more serious, had surgery at the hospital and was stable, Mahoney said.

He said he expected Hayes to remain at the hospital for several days.

Mahoney said the Sheriff’s Office had previously been to the home, which is about six miles north of New Glarus, and that his officers are “acquainted” with the man who attacked the deputies. He did not identify the man or the two people who were injured in the home. Their conditions were not immediately available, but Mahoney said they were taken to a hospital in Madison by ambulance.

Mahoney said the identity of the man killed would be released by the Medical Examiner’s Office later.

Property records show the home is owned by Rosemary Hansen. Town of Primrose Clerk Jamie Baker said the occupants of the home are Hansen, her husband, Robert Hansen, and their son, Dean.

A neighbor, Dionne Babler, said he rents farmland from the Hansens. He said the couple built the log home where they lived after they retired.

Earlier Thursday, the Sheriff’s Office emergency command center was set up in front of the two-story, log-sided house set about 200 feet back from Hanna Road amid rolling farm fields. The lot behind the house is heavily wooded.

In a statement Thursday evening, Dane County Executive Joe Parisi said:

“Our thoughts go out to everyone involved in today’s incident in the town of Primrose, including two of our county’s deputies who were injured in the line of duty. The saddening events of the afternoon are reminders of the dangers men and women in law enforcement face every day.

“On behalf of the family that is Dane County government and the half-million people our deputies work hard to protect everyday, I want to extend our gratitude for their service and well wishes for a quick recovery.”

— State Journal reporter Rob Schultz contributed to this report.

A Dane County Highway Department worker was injured when his parked truck on the Beltline was struck by a pickup truck trying to take an exit.

The crash happened at about 1:45 p.m. Wednesday in the eastbound lanes of the Beltline at the Todd Drive exit, the town of Madison Police Department said in a news release.

The driver of the pickup truck, Michael Polasek, Monona, was cited for unreasonable and imprudent speed and unsafe cutting in when passing.

Police said:

The worker was operating a sign board truck parked at the end of the Todd Drive exit, notifying drivers of nearby construction.

The pickup truck tried to get to the exit from the center lane of the Beltline, but struck the highway truck from behind, causing severe damage to both vehicles.

The worker was taken to a local hospital as a precaution.

On Thursday, another highway truck was struck by a vehicle, this time on I-39/90 south of Madison, causing about a 10-mile backup.

Madison police are asking for help from the public in identifying two suspects who robbed a Near West Side pizza restaurant at gunpoint on April 12.

The robbery happened at about 10:30 p.m. at Rocky Rococo Pizza & Pasta, 1301 Regent St., Madison police said in a news release.

"One of the suspects acted as a lookout while the other suspect showed a handgun to an employee inside the restaurant," said police spokesman Joel DeSpain.

Both suspects fled after getting an undisclosed amount of cash.

Both are white males, wearing black ski masks and winter jackets, one blue and one black.

Surveillance video photos were issued by police on Thursday to help in the investigation.

Anyone with information is asked to call Madison Area Crime Stoppers, 266-6014.

Madison police have released surveillance video photos from an armed robbery that happened on the Near West Side on Tuesday night.

The robbery was at Pizza Extreme, 1614 Monroe St., police said in a news release.

The suspect entered the restaurant around 10 p.m. while an employee was in the kitchen preparing to close.

"The employee heard a noise and found the suspect in the restaurant, pointing a gun at him," said police spokesman Joel DeSpain.

The suspect was given money before he walked the employee to the back of the restaurant and made him lay on the floor. The suspect then fled out a back door.

The suspect is a black male in his late teens or early 20s, wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt.

Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to call Madison Area Crime Stoppers, 266-6014.

A town of Rutland man hunting turkey with his daughter was shot by another hunter who didn't know he was there.

Robert Ruth, 46, was taken to a local hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, the Dane County Sheriff's Office said in a news release.

The incident happened about 7 a.m. Thursday on public hunting land along County Highway A near Highway 14.

According to the Sheriff's Office:

Ruth and his 15-year-old daughter were hunting in the same area as William Tepp, 50, Stoughton, but the two men weren't hunting together and didn't know the other was there.

"Tepp fired one round from his shotgun at what he thought was a turkey, and struck Ruth from about 50 yards away," said Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Elise Schaffer.

Tepp gave first aid to Ruth at the scene before Ruth was taken by EMS to the hospital.

Tepp was arrested and tentatively charged with endangering safety by use of a dangerous weapon.

The Department of Natural Resources is investigating the incident.

An assailant who allegedly stabbed three people, killing two, in an East Side apartment building Friday afternoon was fatally shot by Madison police, authorities reported.

A dispute between neighbors in the East Washington Avenue apartment building may have led to the stabbings, said police, who added that the third stabbing victim is expected to survive.

A young boy also was inside the apartment at 2617 E. Washington Ave. when the stabbings happened but was not hurt, said police spokesman Joel DeSpain.

The alleged assailant and at least one of the victims were residents of the apartments above a vacant storefront near the intersection of East Washington Avenue and Milwaukee Street, DeSpain said. Authorities don’t know what motivated the violence, but DeSpain said it appeared to have involved a dispute between the neighbors.

The first call to 911 came in at 12:45 p.m., shortly after the stabbing victim who wasn’t killed was able to make it out of the apartment, DeSpain said.

Police did not disclose the genders or ages of the stabbing victims or alleged assailant, but said they were all adults. DeSpain said one victim was found dead at the residence while another died at a hospital.

DeSpain said the child hid in the apartment during the stabbing.

“He is OK right now as far as not being physically injured,” DeSpain said.

The suspected stabber was holding a knife when officers got to the home, DeSpain said. He did not say if the suspect threatened police with that knife before being shot by “at least one” officer.

“The officers responded here to a very fluid situation, a very active situation,” DeSpain said.

The police department posted a statement on its website Friday night saying the person shot had died.

Police Chief Mike Koval, who was sworn into the job two days earlier, said the state Division of Criminal Investigation is leading an inquiry into the shooting, following a new state law that requires outside authorities to investigate officer-involved deaths.

“We are doing their bidding. This is their investigation,” Koval said of the DCI investigators. “We are assisting in every way possible.”

Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne was also on the scene Friday afternoon.

Madison police will lead the investigation into the stabbings, which include the city’s second and third homicides of 2014.

Property records indicate the squat, two-story building has three apartment units above the empty commercial space. Investigators in protective white coveralls could be seen climbing a staircase at the back of the building Friday.

The Malt House, a tavern next door to the apartment, was closed for much of the day but opened by late afternoon, despite having its front entrance blocked off by crime scene tape. Police shut down multiple blocks of East Washington Avenue, one of Madison’s major thoroughfares, in both directions so officers could search for forensic evidence, Koval said.

Westbound lanes were soon opened up, but eastbound traffic was being diverted onto North or Milwaukee streets several hours after the slayings. Traffic was snarled on East Washington Avenue and around the East Side.

Koval said several officers involved in Friday’s incident are receiving peer support services.

— Bill Novak of madison.com contributed to this report.

One man from a disturbance last Saturday in the town of Deerfield that injured two people has been arrested on a tentative charge of second-degree reckless endangerment, the Dane County Sheriff's Office announced Friday.

Alvaro Avila-Jimenez, 40, of Villa Park, Illinois, remains in the Dane County Jail on an INS/ICE hold, the Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

The Sheriff’s Office said the incident remains under investigation with additional charges possible.

Avila-Jimenez and Yadiel Nunez-Munoz, 18, of Orlando, Florida, had been staying at a local hotel and working a construction job in the area for about two weeks prior to the incident.

Anyone with information on either Nunez-Munoz or Avila-Jimenez is asked to call the Dane County tip line at 608-284-6900.

Both men were hospitalized. Nunez-Munoz was released late Sunday and Avila-Jimenez prior to being jailed, the Sheriff’s Office said.

The men allegedly were injured fighting last Saturday afternoon, but the Sheriff's Office hasn’t released details on the fight.

Some media reports said the disturbance involved gun fire, and Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Elise Schaffer confirmed to Madison.com on Monday that a gun was involved, but couldn't say if either party was shot.

Wingstop Restaurant, 1234 Regent St., was robbed at gunpoint Friday night, Madison police reported.

Police said in a news release that the incident happened about 10:15 p.m. when a man entered the eatery brandishing a silver handgun. The man ordered all the employees to the ground and demanded cash from the register. The employees complied with the demand and the robber then fled on foot

The suspect was observed getting into a dark four-door sedan that was described as a Chevy Malibu.

The suspect was described as a light-skinned black male wearing a dark coat with a hood, dark jeans, and red and black tennis shoes.

Anyone with information is asked to call Madison Area Crime Stoppers at 608-266-6014.

A man was robbed at knifepoint Friday near Quann Park after he was seen counting money in public, Madison police reported.

The incident happened shortly before 5:45 p.m. at the intersection of Bram and Koster streets, police said in a news release.

The victim, a 24-year-old Hispanic man, told police that he initially was contacted by two women after they observed him openly counting his money while walking along the street. He said he refused to hand over his money when they told him to and then observed a man exit a vehicle and approach him.

The man displayed a switchblade knife and placed it near his neck, while the women picked up the cash that he dropped.

The victim attempted to follow the suspects to their vehicle and noticed additional weapons in the vehicle, so he decided not to continue his pursuit, the release states.

Police said they would “like to remind the community to take precautions concerning your safety. Never display or count currency in public and consider your safety before deciding to follow an armed suspect. Contact police immediately, to provide an opportunity for a quick response and obtain as much descriptive information as possible about the suspects and vehicle from a safe distance.”

The man with the knife was described as black, about 25 years old, 6 feet with an average build, short braids, and wearing baggy blue jeans with a baggy red shirt.

One female suspect was described as white, 20 to 21, 5-4 to 5-5 with a medium build, long brown hair, and wearing a tight black dress with black shoes.

The other female suspect was described as black, 20 to 21, 5-4 to 5-5 with a slender build, long black hair, and wearing a tight black dress.

The suspect vehicle was described as a green 4-door with a well maintained paint job and similar in style to a "Buick Skylark." It had a black jaguar animal design above the front driver-side tire.

Anyone with information is asked to call Madison Area Crime Stoppers at 608-266-6014.