Police Chase; Teens Busted

6/16/09 - Incident report from Madison Police Department as reported by NBC 15

On 6/12/2009, at approximately 3:20 p.m., a Madison Police Officer was traveling eastbound on Turbot Drive when a sport utility vehicle approached from the opposite direction and almost struck the police squad.

The sport utility vehicle was being operated at a high rate of speed, and had difficulty negotiating a curve in the road near the intersection of Sunfish Court.

The officer turned around and began to pursue the suspect vehicle, and once the sport utility vehicle neared the 2900 block of Turbot Drive, both the driver and occupant fled the vehicle. The sport utility vehicle was left in neutral before the occupants fled and continued in motion on the street. The unoccupied sport utility vehicle struck a legally parked car, but no injuries were reported.

Officers determined that this vehicle was in fact stolen, and that may have been the motive to elude police.

Officers on scene immediately set up a perimeter, and a canine search began to locate the occupants of the stolen vehicle. The suspects were thought to be in the area of Pike Drive and Coho Street, based on the direction in which they had run from the original scene. A perimeter officer observed a male subject jump from a 2nd floor balcony in the 2800 block of Coho Street, and the officer and canine pursed this subject to a nearby apartment complex. Officers gained entry into a suspect apartment, and took a 15-year-old male into custody. A second subject later identified as David R. Alexander was also found hiding between 2 mattresses in the same apartment.

The investigation is ongoing, but this case involved a number of officers and multiple scenes. The propensity for injury was extremely high for all involved, but officers remained vigilant in their pursuit to bring about a positive end to a very volatile scenario. The use of a Madison Canine proved to play a pivotal role in the apprehension of the suspects in this case.