Knife attack again

By Patrick Yost
Editor

    Madison Police officers are searching for a man who allegedly broke into a 71-year-old woman’s house and threatened her with a knife. The attack last week marks the third similar attack since November 2007, when a Beacon Heights resident reported that a man was hovering over her bed with a knife demanding money. Two weeks ago a woman on Micha Way reported that a man was hiding in her bedroom closet and accosted her with a knife. All three attacks, including last week’s, have taken place in the Beacon Heights area of Madison.  The suspect, or suspects, fled.
    According to reports, the woman told police that at approximately 1:15 a.m. on Friday, February 9, she heard a noise outside her bedroom door. The woman said when she asked who was there, a man wearing a hooded sweatshirt kicked open her door.
    The woman said the man appeared to be either African-American or Hispanic. The man held a knife on the woman, reports state, and demanded money.
    The woman said she told the man she did not have any money on her person or at her residence. The man then allegedly told the woman to roll over in the bed, and he left the residence. The woman said after she got up from her bed she noticed both the side and front doors of her Carmichael Road residence were open. While securing the doors she noticed that her keys were in the front door. She said she had left the keys in the ignition of hr vehicle, which was parked in the garage. Based on the man’s voice, reports state, the woman said the attacker was probably a young man.
    Officers searched the area around the neighborhood but found no physical evidence. Nothing was reported stolen from the residence although jewelry and a purse were in plain view of the attacker, reports state.
    In fact, said Det. Carl Jones, city of Madison Police Department, nothing has been reported stolen in any of the cases. Jones said investigators don’t have any physical evidence to tie the attacks together, but do recognize the similarities. “We have changed our patrol techniques in that area,” Jones said.