Police announced Thursday the suspect who reported an armed robbery on North Charter Street early Tuesday morning fabricated the incident. Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, confirmed the fictitious account came from a University of Wisconsin-Madison student.
Students across the UW-Madison campus received a WiscAlert Tuesday morning stating an armed robbery had occurred near the corner of North Charter and Spring streets. Police described the perpetrator as a 5-foot-8-inch tall Hispanic male.
The incident report released minutes later by Madison Police Department spokesperson Joel DeSpain confirmed the robbery took place at approximately 8:50 a.m., when a stranger approached a 21-year-old male victim. The stranger displayed a handgun, collected the victim’s money and took off on foot, according to the report.
However, an MPD update released Thursday concluded that “based on a variety of inconsistencies and evidence that did not seem to correlate with the details provided,” the alleged victim fabricated the incident. Madison Police are no longer pursuing a suspect.
