5th East District Newsletter 2003

Hello Everyone.

This is the 5th East District Newsletter for 2003. I am back from sunny Florida and have almost caught up from my absence.

Residential Burglaries

200 Harding St on 3/6/03. Rear door pried; various Nintendo equipment and games taken.
4300 Milwaukee St on 3/7/03 overnight. Remote garage door opener removed from vehicle to access garage; remote and 2 15" Eclipse subwoofers taken.
100 Crystal La on 3/11/03 in the afternoon. Two windows were broken out; diamond earrings taken.
4300 Portland Pkwy over weekend. No forced entry; outside hidden key may have been used. Approx. $335 in coins taken.
Attempted Burglary, 10 Meadowlark Dr. Exterior screen pried off and found on lawn
3800 Busse St on 3/17/03 at 3:15pm. Suspect: M/W, 15-16yrs, 6', 170#, lt. br hair, wearing red/black jacket, black baggy pants, observed entering victim's garage and stealing a 20-speed Schwinn Frontier bicycle.

Commercial Burglaries

None reported during this time period.

Thefts

Theft from Auto at 1400 Wayridge Dr on 3/1/03 overnight. Broken out window; Pioneer CD stereo, Pioneer amp, Pioneer box, and ~100 CD's in leather case.
Theft from Construction trailer, 5400 Golden Leaf Tr. 3/3 over night, Taken: several Hitachi nail guns and circular saws, Passload guns and staplers, Miter saw, tiger saw, Dewalt 5 pack saw, other misc.

Damage to Property

Glendale School on 2/20/03. Glass door broken; discovered at 4:30pm poss. from after school program; shoe imprint on glass.
2900 Milwaukee St. Overnight on 3/6/03. Three basement windows broken out.

Man Arrested for Attempted Child Enticement

Officers responded to Olbrich Park on 3/7/03 at 1:40pm. Two 10 yr old girls were on the sledding hill with an outing from Lowell School. A man approached them and stated he was a police officer and he wanted their names and addresses. The girls ran to a nearby teacher and reported it. Police were called immediately and the suspect was located in the area. Arrested: Donald J. Redpenning, M/W, 58 yrs old, 6'1", 235#, very short cropped grey hair (dyed brown on top), and gray beard. He was charged with Impersonating a Police Officer and Attempted Child Enticement. He was released from prison 2 months ago and is on parole.

Suspicious Person

10 Waywood Cir on 3/6/03 at 1:20pm. Report of a black male, 30's, 6', 240#, blue coat and blue jeans operating a blue Ford van going door to door asking for money.
At a bus stop, 300 N. Walbridge Av on 3/11/03 at 7am. A W/M, 50's, Gray hair, mustache and smoking; was sitting in vehicle for 20 min's watching 8-9 kids at the bus stop. A 14 yr old provided the description and stated "he was just watching us" and he "got a weird feeling from him". The vehicle was a '94 Mercury 4dr, gold or tan in color, some rust, partial WI 642_ _ _.
600 Merryturn Rd on 3/15/03 at 7:10pm. Citizen walking her dog reports seeing a subject step into the shadows in the area of the church on Valley Rd. After citizen walked past, she observed subject walk out of the shadows and pull on the locked double doors to the church. Subject described as M/B, wearing dark coat and dark baggy pants. No one located in area.
221 N. Thompson Dr on 3/15/03. Citizen reported observing 2 suspects under the hood of a car not belonging to them. Suspects may live in complex and may be responsible for some of the theft from autos. Suspects:

M/W, 20's, average build, wearing white hat;
M/W, 20's, average build, brown or black hair, wearing striped shirt & dark pants.

Person Arrested Stealing from Purses

Words of Hope, 4112 Monona Dr on 3/3/03 at 1:30pm. Customer reported to employee that a suspicious man entered the "Employees Only" area. Employee confronted the suspect as she observed him going through her purse. The man left; nothing was taken. The suspect was identified as Marc S. Fenne, M/W, 40. Fenne was arrested on 3/9/03 at East Towne, after he was caught stealing a wallet out of an employee's purse in the back room of one of the stores at East Towne.

Officers Provide Medical Assistance

On March 11, officers responded to a residence on Concord Av. for an 85 yr old man who had collapsed and was not breathing. Officers Jeff Pharo, Bob Veatch and Matt Wentzel arrived on the scene. While Off. Pharo and Veatch began CPR, Off. Wentzel attached a portable defibrillator to the man's chest. The defibrillator checked the man's condition and advised that the type of heart difficulties he was experiencing would not be helped by using the defibrillator. The officers continued to monitor the man's breathing until Fire Rescue arrived and transported him to the hospital. He was admitted in critical condition. Our Dept. maintains a number of these life saving portable defibrillators. The officers must load and unload the defibrillators into their squads at the beginning and end of each shift. They can not be left in the squads, because they cannot tolerate the cold when the squad is left parked outside at the district stations. Thanks to all three officers for assisting this man and to Officer Wentzel for having the defibrillator with him on this particular day.

Vehicle Shot Up in 3000 E. Washington Av

On Sunday, March 16, Fitchburg Police notified us that they had found a car parked in their City that had several bullet holes in it. When they contacted the owner, he stated that it had occurred at 3077 E. Washington Av. The vehicle was occupied at the time, but no one was injured. No suspects were seen. The incident happened in the parking lot of a business located on the frontage road on E. Washington near Hwy 30. The small building at this location was recently leased by a man to be used as a rap music recording studio. It appears however, that the building is actually being used to serve alcohol on Saturday nights. It appeared to the officer that there were numerous building and fire code violations as well.

Today, one of our officers responded to the business with a Building Inspector and a Fire Inspector. The owner was also present. We are very interested in addressing this problem immediately, before it develops into something much worse.

Impending War May Affect Police Services

We have been notified by several protest groups that we can expect war protests if a war begins with Iraq. We already know that on the day of the first bombings, there will be a "Speak Out" at the Capitol at 5pm. On the day following the first bombing, there will be a vigil and demonstration on the Library Mall at 11am. There will also be a rally at the Capitol at 5pm. It is expected that this group will march in the downtown area and potentially tie up traffic for an hour or more.

These are the protests we are aware of so far. It is likely that several others will spring up at various locations and times.

As a result, we have frozen our staffing levels, meaning that no one may take any time off until we determine the extent of the protests. We recognize our responsibility to protect the free speech of these groups. We are also responsible for ensuring the safety of our citizens and maintaining order. Because we will need to divert resources to monitor the anti-war protests, police services to the rest of the City may be impacted. We will make every attempt to continue the level of service you are used to, but calls of a lesser priority may have to wait until an officer is available. We ask for your patience and tolerance in regard to delayed police response or in the event that you are impacted by some type of civil disobedience.

Build Bluebird houses to celebrate Earth Day 2003

The American Transmission Company, LLC is sponsoring a free bird house building activity in Madison.

What: Kids/adults build a "kit" bluebird house with the help of an adult. No power tools are necessary. Take the house home or they will be put up in area nature preserve.
Where: the Atwood Community Center (rain or shine).
When: Saturday April 19th, from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm.
Adult volunteers are welcome - Refreshments available.
Contact for the event: Dave Leary, 877-3633.

That's all for now. Be careful. Be safe.

Captain Jilene Klubertanz