Update Posted Thursday, January 31 -- 9:25am

Official Statement from the Madison Police Department:
Captain Cameron McLay

After an on-going investigation into the theft of 11 autos stolen from Madison's north side in the past two weeks, a 16-year-old north side male has been arrested by Madison Police for operating a stolen auto without the owner's consent. Charges were referred to the DA.

In this incident, the juvenile was observed in the stolen car by a Madison Police Officer who pursued the car on Northport Dr within minutes of the theft. The juvenile attempted to elude the officer and crashed the car before fleeing on foot behind MacDonald's on Dryden Dr. Within one hour of his escape, a car was stolen one block from where the juvenile was last seen running toward Sheridan St. A witness who saw the teen fleeing the scene after eluding and crashing the stolen auto, later identified him from a photo lineup presented by the case detective. The car stolen from Sheridan St was subsequently recovered later that same evening by Middleton Police who arrested 5 other juveniles from Madison and Sun Prairie. The juvenile who fled police on Northport Dr told the case detective that he drives stolen cars because he doesn't have a car of his own.

While this suspect will be in secure custody for some time for this and other earlier crimes, the public is reminded that there have been other stolen vehicles that we do not believe to be associated with this suspect.

For this reason, we remind everyone that most crimes are crimes of opportunity. Sound judgment is always in order: always lock your car, never leave valuable in a vehicle particularly in view from the exterior and if you must run your car to warm it up, continually monitor the vehicle and keep the doors locked at all times.

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Posted Thursday, January 24 -- 11:30am

A CrimeTracker 15 Alert: Since January 1st, there have been 10 cars stolen in the City of Madison after owners left the vehicles running to warm-up. Nine of these cases occurred on the City's North side, and one on the East side.

The latest case happened on January 23rd. A 1998 Ford Taurus was stolen first. Then, a 2004 black GMC Envoy was taken from a driveway in the 5300 block of Comanche Way. An officer tried to stop the driver near McDonald's on Northport Drive. But the driver crashed into a snow bank. He ran away and officers weren't able to track him down. Later, in the same area, a Mercury Sable was stolen. Officers believe all three cases are related. The person of interest is described as a black male, 16 years old (or younger), 5'6", with a thin build. He was wearing a dark jacket, baggy blue jeans and a dark colored baseball cap.

"The common threat in all of these cases was that the cars were left running to warm-up, and were unlocked and unattended" said North District Captain Cam McLay. "We are asking all residents to assure that they remain with their vehicles while warming them up, or minimally lock the doors and continue to monitor the vehicle from inside. These are thefts of opportunity, and are easily prevented by these simple steps."