Three carjackings over the weekend have Lexington Police looking for connections. Unfortunately they have only vague descriptions of the people who committed the crime.
Carjacking is not a crime that people often hear about in Lexington. So three carjackings within a few hours of each other have police trying to come up with some names.
“In situations like these, even the smallest piece of information can be helpful in us solving the case,” says Sherelle Roberts with Lexington Police
Two reports came from Coddell Drive and the other came from the intersection at Kennesaw and Armstrong Mill. The incidents started Saturday night and lasted until 4 a.m. Sunday morning.
Police say at the first incident a man was sitting in his 1998 red Honda Civic when three armed men opened his doors, pointed the guns at him and told him to get out of the car.
Police later recovered that car.
On the same street a few hours later, an armed suspect approached a car with two people inside and forced them out of the vehicle.
The third carjacking occurred when a victim here had just pulled up to a red light at Kennesaw and Armstrong Mill.
“They opened his car doors and removed both he and his dog from the car and then sped off,” says Sherelle Roberts.
With the last incident being in a different area, police aren’t sure if it’s connected. But all three, say police, should serve as a warning.
Police want to remind drivers to be extra careful and lock their doors.
Robert Devin, 27, was booked in the Franklin County jail on possession and distribution of child porn. With over two dozen charges, the family of a child that lived with Devin is riddled with questions. They are worried that the little girl may have been victimized, among other things.
The 6-year-old girl’s identity is being protected as is the relative that spoke with our reporter.
The relative is concerned about what happened to the child behind closed doors for the two years she lived with him and even more upset that Devin is already out of jail on a $2000 bond. A judge put him in an ankle monitor and he is to have “no access to anything with internet capabilities.”
“We are very angry because it’s sickening,” she said. “He should still be in jail.”
State police seized Devin’s computer and said that their investigation is on-going. They said they have not uncovered evidence showing that Devin “made” anything pornographic.
That offers little comfort to the angry relative who feels strongly about Devin whether he made the porn or watched it.
She thinks that he is “a predator.”
Another condition to Devin’s release is that he must live with his parents and have no visitors. LEX 18 tried to reach Devin for comment without luck.
The Better Business Bureau is warning consumers about a relentless scam involving fake debt collection calls.
Here’s how officials say the scam works: someone calls your phone, telling you that you owe money on a current or old debt that isn’t even yours. Consumers say the caller threatens to have you arrested unless you pay up, and can be aggressive, intimidating, and very convincing. If this happens to you, do not transfer any money.
Officials with the BBB say this type of scam, called “phantom debt” is a significant problem. According to federal statistics from 2014, phony debt collection harassment ranked the second most complained-about problem reported by consumers, after identity theft. If you’re not careful, ID theft can be one of the consequences of interacting with a debt scammer.
The callers pose as legitimate debt collectors and may even have a few tidbits of personal information, such as the last four digits of your Social Security number. That does not mean it is a legitimate call and the caller may ask for more personal or financial information as part of their collection process. Unfortunately, some victims will pay out of fear – even if they believe they paid the debt – just to stop the harassing calls. In some cases these payments can run into the hundreds or thousands of dollars.
Here’s what you should know about debt collection practices:
Under the ‘Fake Debt Collection Practices Act’:
Debt collectors may not call between 9pm and 8am, unless you give them permission
Debt collectors are also forbidden to make further contact once you send a formal letter telling them to stop
Here’s four tips from the BBB on how to tell if the debt collection call is legitimate:
Take control – Ask for the caller’s name, company street address and telephone number, and say you have nothing else to discuss until you receive a Validation Notice which is proof of the debt and the name of the creditor and amount owed.
Don’t confirm any information – The caller may ask you to verify the last four digits of your SSN or ask for banking, date of birth and other information. Don’t confirm or deny. Just put down the telephone.
Call the creditor – The debt may be legitimate – but if you think the collector is rogue or a criminal let the company that you owe money to know about it.
Report the call – Contact the Connecticut Department of Banking and the Federal Trade Commission. If it is an identifiable company – file a complaint with Better Business Bureau.
The Fairfield Police Department seeks your help in locating a missing “at risk” adult: Marve Pastor a 58-year-old Filipino female, 5 feet tall and 120 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.
Pastor was last seen by her sister on Saturday — April 26 — at 11:30 a.m. at 2325 Cordelia Road.
She was last seen wearing a green shirt, black pants and black Converse shoes.
A bullet grazed a woman’s head during a home invasion in Grant County Sunday night.
Police say five masked men broke into an apartment on Michigan Avenue in Dry Ridge during a card game around 9:30 p.m. and held everybody at gunpoint. Police say at some point, a woman came out of another room and one of the suspects fired, grazing her in the head.
The Mercer County Sheriff’s Department and state police are investigating after two people were found dead inside a burning building Saturday.
According to deputies, a passerby saw flames coming out of a building on Danville Road between 5:30 and 6:00 p.m. The building used to be Chubby’s Auto Sales, but was converted into a residence. A man and a woman were found dead inside.
Officials at Blackburn Correctional Complex in Lexington say an inmate walked away from the property around 9 p.m. Sunday. Now, they are trying to track him down.
46-year-old inmate Charles Blanton was serving a 16-year sentence for convictions out of Laurel County, including manufacturing meth. He would have been eligible for parole in December 2015.
A Knox County man has finally been sentenced in a child abuse case.
The Corbin News Journal reports that Skylar Wilson was given a seven year sentence for beating his five year old daughter. Wilson stuck a plea deal with prosecutors.
Kentucky State Police say Wilson admitted to pinching or squeezing the child to discipline her. Troopers say the case was much more severe. The girl was reportedly found with bruises, cuts and scabs covering her body.
The child pornography case against a Madison County man is moving forward.
According to the Richmond Register, a grand jury has indicted Frankie Hardy on twenty counts of possession of child pornography. Hardy was arrested in February after a state police undercover operation.
Deputies have made a second arrest in a suspected human trafficking ring uncovered last month, accusing a man of abducting, raping, beating and then holding a mother against her will for several days.
Marqui “Marc” Montez Church, 29, of Lake City, Fla., was charged Thursday with kidnapping, false imprisonment, sexual assault and assault — all felonies — after a distraught woman was found wandering March 7 on the side of the road in rural Columbia County, four days after she went missing. Church was booked into the Columbia County Facility where he’s being held without bond.
The victim’s sister reported her missing March 5 when she didn’t return after borrowing the sister’s car to help a friend move two days earlier, according to the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office. The victim wasn’t picking up her phone, money was missing from bank accounts, and she had missed a birthday for her 5-year-old daughter, whom she’s rarely away from, her sister told investigators.
Deputies searched several locations where her cellphone was tracked but found no signs of the victim or her sister’s car, according to an arrest report. When deputies tried to reach her on the phone, a man’s voice answered several times and then hung up.
On March 7, the victim was found in distress on the side of a road in the northeast part of the city, saying she had been kidnapped, beaten and raped, according to the report.
She had gone to help with the move of her friend, identified in the report as “Jackie,” and left her sister’s car parked at Jackie’s home, the victim told investigators. The pair had traveled to an unidentified house to sell some lawn equipment when three men ambushed the victim, forcing her into a tan car with tinted windows.
They took her to an unknown home where the men repeatedly beat and raped her over several days until one morning she escaped, the victim told investigators. She was treated for soreness to her neck and the back of her head where they had struck her several times and given a rape kit, according to the report.
She told investigators that she overheard the suspects repeatedly calling out the name “Church.” He became a person of interest and later a suspect when investigators found he had been using the victim’s cell phone, deputies said.
On March 8, the victim’s sister’s vehicle was found along with three suspects, including Church. He was allegedly carrying the credit card of the victim’s sister and the victim’s phone when he was taken into custody.
Afterward, deputies obtained a search warrant for a home, and James Lauvalle Harris was one of two people found inside when deputies raided. The victim later identified Harris, 21, as one of the men who helped kidnap her and hold her captive, deputies said.
During questioning, Harris told investigators the victim had pleaded with her captors to let her go, saying she wanted to get back to her children. Harris alleged that Church had been selling the victim’s body for $20 to $30, and he kept the victim and others captive by threatening to hurt them if they didn’t do what he ordered.
Harris, who was arrested last month, faces charges of kidnapping, false imprisonment, sexual battery, theft and maintaining a home for illegal activities, according to the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office. He remains in custody on $325,000 bond.
