Armed robbery suspect fights with Presbyterian Hospital officers www.privateofficer.com
Charlotte NC July 18 2012 Police have arrested a man and charged him with robbing an employee at Presbyterian Hospital in a hospital parking garage.
It’s the third attack in less than three weeks.
Police identified the suspect as LeJarris Williams, 31.
Williams faces multiple charges including robbery with a dangerous weapon and resisting arrest.
Now robbery detectives with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department are working to see if Williams is responsible for two other robberies and attacks that happened on the Presbyterian Hospital campus in June.
According to hospital officials, the latest robbery happened around 4 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon.
They say an employee was held at gunpoint and robbed inside an elevator of the parking garage at Presbyterian Orthopaedic Hospital, which is located along the 1900 block of Randolph Road.
According to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police, officers were called around 4:05 p.m. in reference to a robbery near the Orthopaedic Hospital.
Officers say the man ran towards Vail Avenue, where Presbyterian Hospital Security found him and tried to arrest him.
“Thankfully, the employee was not injured,” hospital officials told WBTV. “After taking the employee’s purse, the alleged suspect fled and was captured by Presbyterian Healthcare Public Safety Officers.”
As Presbyterian Security struggled with the suspect, later identified as LeJarris Williams, patrol officers with the Providence Division arrived on scene and took him into custody, police say.
Police plan to charge Williams with robbery with a dangerous weapon, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and resisting arrest, in connection to this case.
According to police, a handgun and the victim’s purse were recovered at the scene of the arrest.
Hospital officials and police say they are investigating, but it is too early to tell if Williams is the same person who attacked two female employees three weeks ago – just across the street.
“Our priority is to ensure that our employees, patients and visitors are safe when they come to us for work or care,” hospital officials say. “We are grateful for our officers’ swift response and that they were able to detain the alleged suspect who has been taken to CMPD headquarters.”
In late June, two employees were attacked inside the hospital parking lot on the same day – sparking the hospital to offer a $10,000 reward for information.
The first attack happened around 1:50 a.m. on June 27th. The victim, a 26-year-old woman was stabbed during a robbery in the parking lot. The second woman, 27-years-old was attacked in the parking lot less than 20 hours later.
Kelli Hannum told WBTV that she was assaulted just after 6 p.m. inside the employee parking deck.
Hannum says she was overpowered by a man who approached her from behind and shoved her down some steps, but was not seriously hurt in the attack.
She told WBTV that she then fought him off.
“When I kicked him off me, he fell back into the wall, that gave me time to get up and just run,” said Hannum.
In the first attack, a female nurse was leaving work at Presbyterian Hospital when she was stabbed by an unknown person in the employee parking lot across from the hospital.
“She was halfway in her car about to be closing the door when this guy ran up the left side of her car with a knife in his hand preventing her from closing the door,” said officer Bob Fey of the CMPD.
Police say the woman began yelling and tried to fight off her attacker which got the attention of people nearby.
She was stabbed three times in the shoulder before the man ran off with the nurse’s purse and tote bag. Hospital officials told WBTV they believe the person’s intent was to rob the nurse.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police have a rough description of the suspect and are still searching for him, WBTV has learned.
Police have not made any arrests in the cases.
Source:WBTV
