Posted Thursday, February 9, 2012 --- 12:21 p.m.

Incident Report from the Madison Police Department:

Incident Type: Strong Armed Robbery

Incident Date: 02/08/2012 - 5:30 PM

Address: 66 West Towne Mall (West Towne Mall)

Suspect(s): M/B (no other details known)

Victim: 83-year-old female of Madison, Wisconsin

Details: On February 8th, 2012 at approximately 6:02pm, Madison Police Officers responded to the residence of an 83-year-old victim of a strong armed robbery. The victim had left the Apple Store at West Towne Mall at approximately 530pm through the food court entrance/exit, and when she unlocked the doors on her vehicle to get inside, a male suspect opened her passenger side door and wrestled her iPad II (16GB) away from her hands. The suspect immediately ran away, and the flustered victim struggled to determine where he had fled. The value of the iPad is thought to be more than $540.00

The Madison Police Department has been made aware of two other successful robberies of Apple Products, where the victims exited The West Towne Mall, and after entering the parking lot area, a suspect encountered those victims by grabbing their recently purchased product(s). In one instance a $1,500.00 Mac Book was taken from a 57-year-old male on January 30th, 2012 at 8:00pm. A second incident occurred on March 4th, 2012 at approximately 8:00pm, and another 59-year-old victim had the same experience of being robbed of his recently purchased iPad valued at $705.00!

When officers have attempted to follow-up on cases of these specific robberies or any other crimes which occur within the common areas/entry points of the mall or associated parking lots, a request for video footage from store officials or mall management has consistently been a priority request. Police have been advised that no video cameras exist as a surveillance tools or a means by which follow-up can occur in these serious crimes by mall officials, so MPD has actively involved The Community Policing Team (West District) and patrol officers to be more diligent in their surveillance of the immediate areas. The community should be reminded to be observant at all times, and report all criminal occurrences to police immediately, as any delay significantly hampers the ability to conduct timely follow-up. Safety should be the responsibility of everyone.