Crime In Charlotte, NC

On May 21, 2008 at approximately 12:30 p.m., CMPD's Violent Criminal Apprehension Team (VCAT) apprehended Christopher Lamont Cooper- who was wanted for two counts of 2nd Degree Rape, two counts of 2nd Degree Sex Offense and Assault by Strangulation.

VCAT developed information that led them to tracking Cooper through several counties. Officers were able to conduct a successful covert apprehension of the suspect on Montreat Street in Charlotte.

Cooper was aware of his fugitive status and had been actively eluding capture for more than a month. He is currently being held in the Mecklenburg County Jail on $310,000 bond.

A woman was raped by two Hispanic males around 2:00 this morning. Police say the victim went out with friends but had an argument with them on the way home. She got out of the car on Mulberry Church Road and started walking when two Hispanic males in a green pick-up truck pulled up.

The two men got out of the truck- hit the woman and knocked her unconscious. The victim regained consciousness in the woods with her pants down. The woman went to the hospital for an examination and is expected to be okay.

If you have any information, please call Crime Stoppers at (704) 334-1600.

Joseph Keith Perry became acquainted with police when he was 16-years old. He was arrested for stealing a car. At age 18, he was caught carrying a weapon on school grounds.

When Perry was 19-years old, he was out robbing and raping people at gunpoint. Police say Perry approached a man and a woman as they were working on a cell tower site off Brookshire Blvd. Perry held them at gunpoint, took their vehicle and abducted the female victim.

As Perry drove away with the female, the male attempted to help her and Perry fired several shots at him. Perry then took the female to a cemetery off of Beatties Ford Rd, where he sexually assaulted her at gunpoint. The brutal attack occurred in 2003, however, he was not forensically connected to the crime until this month.

Somehow, Perry managed to avoid police for two years. My guess is he skipped town after the robbery and rape. He was back in business when he turned 21. He was arrested three times; once for selling drugs and twice for assaulting a female. When Perry was 22, he violated a protection order. Now... Perry is 23-years old and facing charges which could land him in prison for the rest of his life!

Perry's Criminal Career:
· Age 16: Arrested for stealing a car
· Age 17: Convicted of receiving a stolen vehicle– Received probation
· Age 18: Convicted of possessing a weapon on campus – Received probation
· Age 19: Committed an armed robbery, rape and assault against two victims. – Arrested in ‘07
· Age 21: Arrested for selling, possessing and delivering cocaine
· Age 21: Arrested for assault on a female & possession of marijuana
· Age 22: Convicted of selling drugs- Received probation
· Age 22: Convicted of assaulting a female- Received probation
· Age 22: Arrested again for assaulting a female
· Age 23: Arrested for violating a domestic protection order
· Age 23: Arrested for a terrible and violent crime he committed when he was 19. He is facing charges of: Robbery, first and second degree kidnapping, first and second degree sex offenses, first and second degree rape, assault on a female, felonious restraint and assault with a deadly weapon- with the intent to kill.

In January 2006, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department formed a sexual assault cold case unit. The cold case unit is comprised of only two detectives but they have produced exceptional results. To date, the cold case unit has reviewed 159 cases. They have obtained warrants and/or indictments in 10 cases, cleared 8 cases with arrests and they cleared another 7 cases (identified suspect but either the suspect is deceased, the victim declines to pursue or district attorney declined to prosecute)

UPDATE: 5/15/07: Dewan Antonio Garris (R) turned himself in to police today. He is in the Mecklenburg County Jail under a $210,000 bond.

Shortly after 11:00 last night, a couple was driving in an apartment complex on Perth Court and saw four hispanic men around a car with the hood raised. The men signaled for the couple to stop and help them.

The men approached the couple and instead of asking for help, they put guns to their heads and took them to the back of the apartment building. The men gang raped the woman, robbed the couple and drove off in the victims blue Ford Expedition.

Police recovered the victim's blue Expedition from the 9500 block of Newell Hickory Grove Road. CMPD Crime scene technicians are processing the vehicle as part of the ongoing investigation. Police have not made any arrests.

Anyone with information that could help authorities should call Crime Stoppers at (704) 334-1600.

Today, WSOC reported about a woman who was victimized after she fell for a sly trick by a rapist. On Friday night, a 23 year old woman stopped at a convenience store on Glenwood Drive- in west Charlotte.

Police said a man tapped on the woman’s passenger-side window and she cracked it. The man asked for a cigarette and when she looked down at her purse, he put his hand in through the window and opened the door.

The man made the woman drive three miles to an isolated location on Kansas Drive, where he raped her three times, officials said. Police say the young woman was on her way to help a friend who was having car trouble.

Be careful if someone knocks on your window! If you must, crack your window a tiny bit and always make sure your doors are locked. It is unfortunate people use tactics such as this to victimize people. We have to think twice about helping people these days and that stinks!

Derrick Raheem Swann, 18 (R) was arrested yesterday by Charlotte-Mecklenburg police on several warrants related to two unsolved violent rapes that occurred in Charlotte. The charges include several counts of first degree rape, first degree sexual assault, first and second degree kidnapping, breaking and entering with force, robbery with a dangerous weapon and assault on a child under 12.

Police say DNA evidence linked Swann to the October 2005 rape of a woman in her home on Rama Road near Monroe Road. Police say Swann sexually assaulted a 68 year old woman in front of her 97 year old mother.

Police say he also broke into a woman’s apartment on Farm Pond Lane earlier this month. He assaulted a woman in front of her 4 year old daughter and infant son.

Swann is no stranger to law enforcement. He may only be 18, but his arrest yesterday was the 8th time he was arrested by CMPD since November of 2005. During one of his trips to jail, police collected his DNA and entered it into the system. MATCH: 2 hits

Swann was out of jail on bond for other charges when police arrested him. They were able to quickly locate him because a judge had ordered him to wear a GPS tracking system after his most recent burglary arrest. He is now being held in the Mecklenburg County jail on a $900,000 bond.

More Info: WBTV, The Charlotte Observer, WSOC, Watch CMPD Press Conference

A crime of opportunity turned into a hideous attack early Sunday morning at a south Charlotte apartment complex. A man was getting things out of his car outside his Providence Court apartment- just off Pineville-Matthews Road. An armed attacker approached him and hit him on the head with his gun.

Larfary Belk, (R) a 35-year old man has been charged with kidnapping, 2nd degree rape and attempting to kill a woman Monday night in north Charlotte.

Three police officers and two other witnesses said they saw Belk, attacking a 41-year old woman behind a vacant building on Dalton Avenue. They said they heard the victim screaming for help.

According to a police report, the officers apprehended Belk while still attacking the woman. He is accused of trying to suffocate her. Belk is scheduled to be in court Wednesday afternoon. He has a lengthy criminal record. Source: News 14 Carolina

Police are searching for a man who broke into a Myers Park home and raped an elderly woman inside. According to authorities, a 76-year-old woman reported the break-in at her home around 4:45 am on Sunday.

The attack happened on a tree-lined stretch of Providence Road just a few blocks south of Queens Road. The victim told police that the man broke in and attacked her. She was taken to Presbyterian Hospital for treatment.

Police describe the suspect as a black male, 5'6" to 5'8" tall with some or all of his teeth missing. Officials also said the man had a strong body odor. If you have any information, please contact CrimeStoppers @ (704) 334-1600.

UPDATE: Andrew Christopher Hood turned himself in to Lenoir police after seeing his picture on the news. Hopefully he will stay behind bars this time!
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Caldwell County authorities are searching for a man wanted in the sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl. Andrew Christopher Hood, 36, has five warrants against him and may be hiding in Charlotte, where he has relatives, said Caldwell County Sheriff's Det. Shelly Hartley.

Hood is wanted on one count each of first-degree kidnapping and statutory rape of a 15-year-old and two counts of a statutory sex offense with a 15-year-old.

On Monday, police obtained an additional warrant against Hood for failing to verify his address with a sex-offense registry, Hartley said. Hood had recently completed a prison sentence for rape, Hartley said. If you see this man, dial 911.

Police are warning residents to be on the look out for a man who is believed to have raped two women in Charlotte. DNA collected from the two crime scenes linked the suspect to both incidents.

The attacks happened in northwest Charlotte during 2005. One incident was on Parkside Drive (L) in August and the other incident was on Dakota Street (R) in November.

In both cases, the victims were taken to another location and raped. The first victim was abducted from a bus stop at knifepoint. The second victim got in the car when offered a ride.

Police describe the suspect as a white man in his mid to late 20's. He is about 5'6" to 5'8" tall and has a stocky build. The suspect has brown hair and, possibly, a mustache and goatee.

They think he is familiar with the neighborhood. In the past month, he has been seen driving a burgundy mini van with wood grain paneling.

If you know anything that can help in this investigation, call Crimestoppers at 704-334-1600.

Source: WBTV

UPDATE: 6-27-07: Simone Kirkland pled guilty to one count of first degree burglary and all other charges were dismissed as part of a plea deal. She was sentenced to serve 3 1/2 years to 5 1/2 years in prison.

17-year old twin sisters were raped around 2 am Monday morning on Echodale Drive. Police say three suspects climbed in through a window and attacked Guatemalan sisters- who stayed together at night while their husbands worked. The two women have only been in the US for a couple of months.

Also... during the attack, the suspects hit a 7-month old baby boy on the head because he was crying. After the attack, the victims ran to a neighbor for help.

The victims told the police the three people who assaulted them were neighbors. Police identified and arrested male and female cousins, 18-year old Simone Kirkland (L) and 16-year old Devan McDaniel. (R) Police also arrested an unidentified l3-year old for his part in the crime.

McDaniel and Kirkland are charged with rape, robbery, assault on a child, burglary and kidnapping.

WSOC-TV reported today that women who use a bus stop at Albemarle Road every day are fearful after a 30-year-old mother was abducted from the bus stop and raped.

"I think it's horrible," said Charlotte resident Norma Dunn.

Investigators said the woman was walking from a friend's house on Farm Pond Lane to catch the bus at about 8:30 p.m. Sunday, but she never made it. Instead, she was abducted by a man who at first asked for directions.

"When she first approached the car, she went to the passenger side, which is the smart thing to do. But he acted like he couldn't hear her so she went to the other side of the car and he tricked her," said Sgt. Darrell Price.

The victim said the man, driving a blue Jeep Cherokee, started writing down directions, dropped his pen, and when the woman bent down to get it, the man grabbed her hair and pulled her into the vehicle.

The woman said, after several hours, the man took her to an abandoned parking lot, assaulted her and raped her.

She told police the man dropped her off at a Bi-Lo grocery store. Investigators said someone called police after they saw the woman pass out. Women who work in the area said the attack is horrifying.

"It's terrible. You can't trust anyone anymore," said local resident Dawn Butler.

"It makes you not want to assist anyone anymore," said local resident Rhonda Flowers.

Police said the woman got a good description of the suspect and that may help lead to an arrest. The victim describes the man as a black man in his 40s with a small, slender build. She said the man had shoulder length curly hair with some kind of chemical in it.
Flowers hopes the rapist will come forward.

"Actually, if he's watching, you need to turn yourself in because that's a horrible thing. If you have family, would you want someone to do that to your family?" she said.

On February 22nd, a woman reported that a man broke into her home, hancuffed her and raped her. The woman lived in the Chantilly neighborhood just off Seventh Street. Her cell phone and purse were also stolen in the attack.

"Apparently, there was a struggle for a while," said Keith Bridges, a spokesman for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. "She was not an easy victim for him. But ultimately, she was sexually assaulted."

Today, police arrested Michael Robinson, 36 and charged him with two counts of second-degree rape, one count of second-degree sex offense, first-degree burglary, common law robbery and kidnapping. Robinson is in the Mecklenburg County jail under $300,000 bond.

Arrest#: 01272543 - 03/21/06
PID#: 086460
Name : ROBINSON, MICHAEL ANTONIO

BURGLARY - FIRST DEGREE RAPE-2ND DEGREE BY FORCE AGAINST WILL OF VICTSEX OFFENSE - 2ND DEGREE BY FORCE AGAINST WILKIDNAPPING - SECOND DEGREE ROBBERY (COMMON LAW) (FELONY)

Other related articles:
News 14 Carolina
WSOC-TV