Police: Tip from psychic nets arrest of 2 wanted thieves

A tip from a person claiming to be psychic Tuesday leads police to two wanted people in Madison who are also accused of theft.

Madison police said a man called a dispatcher saying he was a psychic and asked for police to respond to what he saw as a suspicious situation evolving at 12:38 a.m. in the parking lot of the Red Roof Inn, 4830 Hayes Road. The man told authorities there was some sort of conspiracy happening and it centered around a white car in the parking lot. He claimed he saw people coming and going and believed they had a strange “aura” about them and that they were likely connected to unnamed nefarious characters.

Officers discovered the car, which was the focus of the psychic’s theory, had been reported stolen, according to the report. Andrew M.R. Matje, 25, and Alexandra K. Scola, 25, both of Deforest, were using the car and the two were wanted on warrants and for a series of recent crimes.

Officers chased Matje down outside of the hotel. Scola was found in a room, the report said.

Scola is accused of stealing $2,200 worth of jeans from West Towne Mall’s Boston Store on Nov. 17 and 23. She’s also accused of attempting to steal another $700 worth jeans from the same store Monday, police said. An employee stopped her as she exited, and she dropped the pants before jumping into a white car.

Matje is accused of trading stolen trousers for cash at a resale shop. He’s also suspected of swiping a purse late Sunday morning from East Towne’s Olive Garden and using a victim’s credit card to buy 10 packs of cigarettes at a nearby service station, police said.

The white car, which may contain evidence of additional crimes, was towed away.

Madison police spokesman Joel DeSpain said Matje and Scola were taken to jail.

“While investigators could not corroborate the self-proclaimed psychic’s elaborate conspiracy theory, they were very happy to get the crime tip, just the same,” DeSpain said.

Matje was arrested on suspicion of identity theft, resisting, felony bail jumping, party to a crime of felony retail theft and on a burglary warrant.

Scola was arrested on suspicion of identity theft, two counts of felony retail theft, attempted felony retail theft and on warrants, police said.