Woman assaulted, breaks leg during southeast Charlotte carjacking, CMPD says

CHARLOTTE — A woman continues to recover after a violent carjacking at about 5 p.m. Friday at a southeast Charlotte gas station.

The victim, who did not want to be identified, was pumping gas at a gas station at the corner of Idlewild and Monroe roads when a man approached her and asked for money.

The victim told him that she did not have any money and he jumped in her car.

“She was still in the doorway trying to tell him to get out of the vehicle,” said, Capt. Bret Balamucki, with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. “At that point, he started the vehicle and dragged her several feet. Unfortunately, then knocked her to the ground.”

Veteran crime reporter Mark Becker spoke with the victim who said she briefly lost consciousness during the attack.

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Police said she was able to give them a good description of her car and the suspect.

Police said the woman taken to the hospital with serious injuries after the suspect ran over her leg.

The CMPD Aviation Unit followed the car along Rocky River Road into Cabarrus County, where officers on the ground stopped it with assistance from a K-9 unit and arrested the suspect.

Police believe Audley Sinclair, 46, may have been desperate for drugs and looking for an easy target when he attacked the woman.

Authorities warn that an assault could happen to anyone.

“You just need to be aware of your surroundings,” Balamucki told Channel 9. “She did a fantastic job of being able to tell officers what occurred. We’re just so grateful that her injuries were not more serious.”

The victim said that she was released from a hospital the next morning.

Sinclair has a history of drug convictions in North Carolina. He is under a $20,000 bond.

(Watch the video below: Good Samaritans carjacked by men they stopped to help on interstate)