|
Man kidnapped, robbed locally in broad daylight |
|
|
Thursday, 18 June 2009 |
Benton police are continuing to search for a man who allegedly kidnapped and robbed an 18-year-old Benton man at gunpoint last week.
Kevin Seigrist told police that he had gone to the Benton Walmart Supercenter to buy a shirt for work and the suspect approached him in the parking lot. The report said the suspect started talking to him as if he knew him, asked if he worked there and if he would help him get a job.
“He kind of befriended him as they were coming into the store,” Lt. Kevin Russell explained.
The incident occurred around 4:30 p.m. on June 11, Russell said.
Seigrist said the suspect continued to talk to him inside the store and asked for a ride to a friend’s house. He reportedly told the suspect that he “had to go to work,” but the man continued to follow him through the checkout line and out to the parking lot, continuously asking for a ride. Seigrist said when he got to his vehicle, the suspect told him he had a gun.
The report said Seigrist saw “what appeared to be a black automatic handgun in his waistband” and ordered him to drive. Seigrist told officers he drove to an area that “looked to be a pink color church” and said the suspect robbed him at that location.
After taking $400 in cash and a cell phone, estimated at $250, the suspect told him to get out of the car, the report said. Seigrist said the suspect then jumped at him, but fell to the ground and cut his left knee. When a car drove by, the suspect reportedly ran away.
Seigrist described the man as black, 5 feet 7 inches tall, bald with no facial hair, tattoos on both arms and a possible cross tattooed on the right side of the neck. He said the man was wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans. Seigrist also said the suspect had a knot or bump on his forehead.
“We are taking this case very seriously, and we are very concerned for the community,” Russell said. “We are stepping up patrol in all the shopping areas, and we will closely monitor this situation.”
Russell added that leads are being investigated and said officers are viewing video surveillance from Walmart. Officers also reportedly are searching Seigrist’s vehicle for evidence.
|
Razorbacks
