A string of crimes across Madison last week was highlighted by a man allegedly stuffing his pants with steak and mustard bottles at an area market, as well as a bank robbery suspected to be connected to another in the past week.

An incident report from Madison Police Department details a strange series of events that led to the arrest of a 20-year-old Madison man.

Tahija Robinson was arrested Thursday on a variety of charges after clerks at Pierce’s Market on North Sherman Avenue saw the man place several steaks in his pants; police were alerted to the man’s theft attempts and a squad car responded while the man was still inside the store, MPD spokesperson Joel DeSpain said.

Upon seeing the squad car approach one of the entrances, DeSpain said, the suspect attempted to flee through the other. Robinson attempted to bull-rush the sliding glass door, knocking it from its track, before the clerks attempted to detain the man.

DeSpain said one of the clerks was punched in the face during the scuffle before the responding officer intervened. During the ensuing struggle, a bottle of stolen mustard rolled out of the man’s pants and the suspect assumed a more aggressive stance, prompting the officer to subdue him with a taser.

“The suspect went from a defensive position to a fighting stance,” DeSpain said. “It was at this point that the officer made the decision to use his taser.”

DeSpain added while getting statements from the clerks, the suspect remained handcuffed in the back of the squad car. When the officer returned, a T-bone steak was found on the floor of the car; upon further searching of the suspect, two additional steaks were found.

Ald. Satya Rhodes-Conway, District 12, who represents the area where the crime occurred, said on the whole, crime in the area is fairly low, but the motivation for the man’s actions may have been due to his circumstances.

“Honestly, I think that it’s due to the state of the economy. I think people are getting desperate and turning to crime to fulfill their needs,” Rhodes-Conway said.

Another incident at the Chase Bank on East Towne Boulevard is seeing cooperation between Madison and Sun Prairie police departments in their investigations as to whether the suspect of the East Towne incident could have been the suspect of another robbery a day earlier in Sun Prairie.

At about 10:30 a.m., a woman entered Chase Bank, approached the teller and passed a note that indicated a robbery. The woman was able to make off with the money. DeSpain said MPD is not releasing the details of the note pending the ongoing investigation.

The suspect is a white female in her early twenties, 5’7” to 5’8”, with a thin build and wearing a dark-colored ski coat. The suspect, with the exception of glasses, fits the description of a robbery that took place Thursday in Sun Prairie.

“The perpetrator is also a Caucasian female and the banks are in relative proximity,” DeSpain said. “There are some similarities, and we are looking into that.”