Evergreen Reporter

After a two-day jury trial, Malcolm Whiteside, a 30-year-old from Fitchburg, Wisconsin, was found guilty of illegally possessing a firearm as a felon. The jury's decision came after slightly more than 30 minutes of deliberation. This was confirmed by Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin.

The incident that led to Whiteside's conviction took place on August 12, 2024, when he engaged police in a high-speed chase on a Madison highway. The pursuit ended when he crashed the vehicle he was driving into a semi-truck. Whiteside then fled on foot but was soon found hiding in a garden shed by a police officer near a home improvement store. At the crash scene, officers discovered a loaded firearm under the driver’s floormat of the car. DNA analysis later confirmed that Whiteside’s DNA was present in multiple locations on the firearm. Whiteside had a prior conviction for the same offense in 2019.

Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson has scheduled Whiteside’s sentencing for June 25. He could face up to 15 years in federal prison.

The investigation involved agencies including the City of Monona Police Department, Madison Police Department, Wisconsin State Patrol, and the ATF Madison Crime Gun Task Force. The task force is composed of federal agents from ATF along with local and state task force officers across the Western District of Wisconsin. The prosecution is led by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Chadwick M. Elgersma and Collen Lennon.