Posted Monday, April 23, 2012 --- 4:10 p.m.

From the Madison Police Department:

Incident Type:
Theft

Incident Date:
04/20/2012 - 3:36 PM

Address:
3801 E. Washington Ave. (Hy-Vee)

Arrested:
Lucas H. Humboldt, age 33, Madison
Mr. Humboldt was arrested for Theft.

Victim:
Male, age 79, Madison

Details:
Inside the vestibule of the East Washington Ave. Hy-Vee grocery store, a 79-year old Knights of Columbus member was accepting donations to the Catholic charity last Friday afternoon.

One man approached and said he had nothing to give.

The parishioner, from St. Dennis Catholic Church, holding the tall, yellow Knights of Columbus collection cup, gave the man a Tootsie Roll anyway and then watched as the man continued to loiter. Suddenly, the man snatched the collection cup and sprinted off.

The Madison senior yelled: "Hey!" He also took off on foot, giving chase, but did not catch the thief.

However, he did obtain a significant clue. The criminal, in his haste, had dropped his cell phone.

The victim turned it over to an officer. The officer, utilizing information contained in the phone, was able to come up with a name.

The name was found to have a mug shot connected with it.

The officer, armed with the victim's suspect description, and - better yet - the Hy-Vee video surveillance was able to put two and two together. He gathered a back-up officer and went to pay a call to the suspect's residence. Initially, the suspect claimed to have no clue as to why the officer might be there. Later, he admitted to spending the charity’s collection money on drugs. He was arrested for theft.