Police: Suspect vehicles in Memorial HS carjacking also stolen

SUV taken at gunpoint from teens after soccer game

MADISON, Wis. — Madison police are investigating a report of a vehicle stolen after a soccer game at James Madison Memorial High School at about 9:30 p.m. Thursday.

Police said Friday afternoon that the victims, a 16-year-old girl and a 17-year-old girl, were boxed in by an SUV and a sedan, after which two men armed with guns exited the SUV, threatened the girls and demanded the keys to a Range Rover they were in.

The girl gave the robbers the keys and they drove away with the SUV. No one was hurt during the incident, police said.

“I think they felt safe because they were at school and they should feel safe at school,” said MMSD Director of Security Joe Balles “We are very thankful that the girls were not harmed. The district takes great precautions in terms of trying to make our facilities as safe as they could possibly be,” he said.

Police said there were multiple people in both the SUV and the sedan.

“Our churches, our houses of worship, our schools have been sort of our areas that one can be out and about and not be fearful,… I’m crossing my fingers that this is an instance of an anomaly,” said Madison Police Chief Mike Koval.

Around 3 a.m. Friday, Dane County Dispatch received a call about an abandoned and damaged black Range Rover in the intersection of Elka Lane and Windom Way, with airbags deployed. Officers responded and confirmed the Range Rover was the stolen SUV from the armed robbery.

Police said the SUV and the sedan were also found on the city’s north side and both were reported stolen from the Chicago area on Wednesday.

All three vehicles are being examined for forensic evidence, police said. Both incidents are still under investigation.

Anyone with information about the incidents is asked to call Madison Area Crime Stoppers at 608-266-6014.

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