Wednesday, November 19, 2003
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Wednesday, November 19, 2003 |
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Fayetteville woman tussles with man who forced himself into her truck By JOHN MUNFORD A Fayetteville woman briefly fought with a man early Thursday morning when he forced his way into her truck at the Flash Foods convenience store on East Lanier Avenue in Fayetteville. The woman, 26, escaped the vehicle uninjured before the suspect drove away with her Ford F-250, according to Lt. Beverly Trainor of the Fayetteville Police Department. “She kicked him and he kicked her,” Trainor said of the altercation. The suspect, described as a black male, 6-feet-1-inch tall, 230 pounds with a black shirt and blue jeans, was caught on surveillance video when he robbed the Hot Spot convenience store at the intersection of Ga. highways 19 and 41 in Spalding County roughly an hour and a half later, Trainor said. “We also think we have some fingerprint evidence,” Trainor said, adding that officers worked the case through the weekend developing leads. The Fayette County Sheriff’s Department is using the video tape to produce a still image of the attacker from the Spalding County incident, Trainor added. The victim’s vehicle was found early Friday morning at the Savannah Suites hotel in Jonesboro by a police officer there, police said. Nothing was missing from the vehicle and it was undamaged, police said. It is not believed that the suspect was staying at the hotel, Trainor said. The incident occurred at 4 a.m. when the victim noticed the man approach her vehicle from the rear just after she parked her car in the parking lot, Trainor said. “She tried to lock the doors but he was able to get in before she could,” Trainor said. The victim did the right thing in leaving the vehicle, Trainor said. Otherwise, she might have been abducted, she added. “It could have been a lot worse,” Trainor said. Prior to the robbery, the suspect had gone in and out of the Flash Foods store several times, Trainor said. In the Spalding County robbery, the suspect entered the convenience store and robbed the clerk, telling her to come with him, police said. But the clerk refused and gave the suspect the keys to her vehicle. The vehicle has not been located yet. But police know it was involved in a hit-and-run incident in East Point Friday morning, Trainor said. As he left the store, the suspect reportedly told the clerk, “Thank you,” Trainor said. For safety reasons, people should avoid traveling alone, particularly after dark, Trainor said. Those who must leave in the early morning hours to commute to work should consider filling up on gas during daylight hours, she suggested.
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