Teen narrowly escapes abduction at knifepoint
LINCOLN CITY, Ore. (AP) - Police in a popular tourist hamlet on the Oregon coast are looking for a man who allegedly abducted an 18-year-old woman at knifepoint from the parking garage at an outlet mall before driving her to a secluded road, where she escaped moments later.
Lincoln City police say the woman suffered knife wounds that are not life-threatening in the attack Sunday afternoon. Officers have been unable to locate the abductor.
"We believe it's a random attack at this point," Detective Bud Lane, who is working the case for the Lincoln City Police Department, told The Associated Press. "It was a crime of opportunity."
Lane said the suspect abducted the teenager while she was alone near her car at the Tanger Outlets.
"He said just, `Don't scream or I'll kill you,"' the victim, Chelsea Hopkins, told KGW-TV in Portland. Video from the station showed cuts on her wrist and legs.
He drove her a short distance and reached a dead-end in front of a barn, and she decided as the car stopped that she had to get away. She ran through a barbed-wire fence while sprinting for a nearby home, the station reported.
Hopkins' 16-year-old sister, Amanda, was nearby when Chelsea was abducted, she told the station. She feared she'd never see her sister again.
Police are looking for a balding white man in his 30s with reddish dark hair and missing front teeth. They believe he is about 5'10" tall and 200 to 230 pounds. He was last seen wearing jean shorts and a light colored shirt, and he was carrying a white sweatshirt.
Lane said police believe the same man forced his way into a Lincoln City motel room about an hour earlier wielding a knife. Two maids who were cleaning the room were able to escape unharmed.
"We are actively searching for him, and I feel confident that we will locate this individual," Lane said.
Lincoln City police say the woman suffered knife wounds that are not life-threatening in the attack Sunday afternoon. Officers have been unable to locate the abductor.
"We believe it's a random attack at this point," Detective Bud Lane, who is working the case for the Lincoln City Police Department, told The Associated Press. "It was a crime of opportunity."
Lane said the suspect abducted the teenager while she was alone near her car at the Tanger Outlets.
"He said just, `Don't scream or I'll kill you,"' the victim, Chelsea Hopkins, told KGW-TV in Portland. Video from the station showed cuts on her wrist and legs.
He drove her a short distance and reached a dead-end in front of a barn, and she decided as the car stopped that she had to get away. She ran through a barbed-wire fence while sprinting for a nearby home, the station reported.
Hopkins' 16-year-old sister, Amanda, was nearby when Chelsea was abducted, she told the station. She feared she'd never see her sister again.
Police are looking for a balding white man in his 30s with reddish dark hair and missing front teeth. They believe he is about 5'10" tall and 200 to 230 pounds. He was last seen wearing jean shorts and a light colored shirt, and he was carrying a white sweatshirt.
Lane said police believe the same man forced his way into a Lincoln City motel room about an hour earlier wielding a knife. Two maids who were cleaning the room were able to escape unharmed.
"We are actively searching for him, and I feel confident that we will locate this individual," Lane said.
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