CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte-Mecklenburg police are searching for a man they consider armed and dangerous after they said he pointed a gun at two female joggers in the Steele Creek area and tried to get them into his vehicle.
The first female victim told officers she was running just before 8 a.m. Tuesday in the 15000 block of York Road, near Shopton Road West, when a vehicle pulled up next to her and a man pointed a gun at her and demanded that she get into the vehicle, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. Officers said the woman was able to run away and call 911.
The woman was jogging near the McDowell Nature Preserve, a popular spot for runners.
About an hour later, a second female victim told police she was jogging in the 5900 block of Dixie River Road, near the Charlotte Premium Outlets, when a man approached her, pointed a gun at her and told her to get into a vehicle, police said. The woman was able to flag down a passerby and called 911.
The two women were not hurt during the incidents.
The man is described as light-skinned, Hispanic and about 20-30 years old with straight black hair. He was last seen wearing a black shirt.
He was driving a tan or gold 1999 Mercedes-Benz with North Carolina license plate EJA-1151. Police said that Mercedes-Benz was reported stolen Saturday.
Police said the man ditched the stolen car and set it on fire, an old-fashioned tactic used by criminals to destroy evidence.
"What we're dealing with right now is somebody who obviously knew there is a potential for them to be caught, because of the vehicle and their linkage to the vehicle,"
The car was stolen on Saturday afternoon from a west Charlotte shopping center on Little Rock Road.
Cynthia Grier, of Westside Produce, said she didn't see anything.
But investigators must feel the car was parked in the vicinity of the laundromat because they asked the owners if they had any external cameras, but they did not.
"It was cars, it was busier Saturday than usual and so I was busy myself,” Grier said.
Following the attempted kidnappings, police said they responded to a 911 call about a fire in some woods off Performance Road, near the Interstate-85/Interstate 485 interchange in west Charlotte. Officers said it was the car used in the attempted kidnappings.
Just after 3:30 p.m., police pulled the car out of the woods near I-85. The car was about 30 yards back from the road.
Police said setting the car on fire and ditching it in the woods was a tactic to destroy evidence.
During a news conference Wednesday, police hesitated to use the word "clever" to describe the suspect.
"I don't want to give credit to a criminal for being involved in some type of criminal activity, criminal behavior. I think it's something for us to be mindful of and worry about, quite frankly, anytime somebody is trying to destroy evidence. That's a problem," said Brisbon.
CMPD and the North Carolina Highway Patrol set up patrols at a weigh station on I-85 as they searched for the would-be kidnapper.
Investigators spent much of the afternoon going over the scene with a fine-tooth comb, looking for clues that might point to who this suspect is.
Channel 9 was there as investigators carried brown bags away from the car.
“It’s very complicated when you look at an area like where we are right now, because there are certainly different avenues to get out of here,” CMPD Deputy Chief Johnny Jennings said.
CMPD notified surrounding agencies to be on the lookout for the suspect and the vehicle.
Anyone with information on the cases or the man police are seeking are asked to call 911 immediately.
Security concerns rise in the Steele Creek area
Word of the massive police search circulated throughout the Steele Creek area Tuesday. Charlotte-Mecklenburg police announced Wednesday that the department is beefing up resources in the Steele Creek division to help keep residents safe.
"I started thinking because exactly where this happened is where I ride my bicycle every Sunday and Saturday morning,” Wolfgang Haas said.
In the wake of the attempted kidnappings, members of the Steele Creek Residents Association are expressing concern for their safety.
"It's frightening,” Byron Adgerson said. “I have a little daughter, so I don't want her to be out here riding her bike and someone does that to her, you know?"
Parts of the neighborhood are at risk of losing the police department's services by this time next year.
The group took to Facebook to express how much they need that protection.
"This incident shows that unincorporated Steele Creek needs to retain the services and resources of CMPD,” the message said.
In April, Mecklenburg County commissioners voted to end the police department's service to unincorporated parts of the county in July 2018.
Members of the Steele Creek Residents Association said they are hoping the city and county can come to an agreement so that doesn't happen.
Katia Nunes may be one of the few people around Steele Creek who had not heard about the gunman, but she said something like that could happen to her.
“I thought it was a safe place,” Nunes said. “It's good to know that because I run I used to run here, around this area.”
Despite the all-out search, the man somehow managed to slip through their intensive dragnet.
Capt. Chris Dozier, of the CMPD, said they really haven't seen that kind of threat here very often, so they threw all of their resources into the search and they are not giving up.
Investigators are looking at all of the surveillance cameras in the area.
Police have not had any more reports of a suspicious man on Wednesday, but they are still warning people, particularly women, to be aware.
“Obviously, he was targeting female joggers early in the morning,” Dozier said. “It was a very bad situation. We had to act on it immediately. If there's something out of the ordinary, it needs to be reported. We need to follow up.”
Police shut down trails at Whitewater Center in search of man
Officers said the suspect might have approached the trails at the Whitewater Center after abandoning the burned Mercedes. Authorities shut down the trails for a few hours while they searched for him but reopened them around 1:30 p.m.
Police scoured the trails and were looking around the Whitewater Center as they searched for the man.
Officers set up a perimeter with officers along I-85 on the south side watching there while others made their way through the Whitewater Center on motorcycles.
Shelley Stoudt and her husband were hiking on their wedding anniversary when they were suddenly interrupted by police.
“We'd been out there for maybe 30 minutes or so, and the motorcycle cops came up with the blue lights flashing, and they said, 'Get off the trail right now,'” Stoudt said. “So we followed their instructions and made our way out. We didn't know how to get out of there, but we found our way out.”
They ended up on Moores Chapel Road and had to ask for a ride to get back to the Whitewater Center.
Women ran from would-be abductor, called police
The women who were approached are safe because rather than getting into the man's car, they chose to run away.
Police are warning other women to do the same if they are confronted by someone they believe intends to do them harm.
Police said the man on the run is armed and dangerous after targeting the two women about 8 miles apart in Steele Creek.
“It's just scary to think it's happening on the Fourth of July,” Megan Humpal said.
Women out enjoying their holiday with a walk were alarmed by the news.
Elton Troutman started getting updates on his neighborhood's Nextdoor application as soon as it happened, warning them to be on the lookout for the Mercedes-Benz and to call police if they spotted it.
“This is shocking,” Troutman said. “This suspect is armed, dangerous.”
Some neighbors are on edge.
"I don't know what I would do in that situation. It's scary to think about,” Humpal said.
As officers investigate, they are warning the public to use caution.
“Unless you have a companion or group, don't ever walk alone,” Jennings said.
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