Daniel Bloodworth, 48, of Gladstone Drive in Durham, was arrested after a disturbance at a Wal-Mart on North Roxboro Road on Sept. 6. According to police, he slashed an employee on the arm with a box cutter when store employees attempted to stop him on suspicion of shoplifting. Employees tackled him and held him until officers arrived.
After his arrest, Bloodworth was charged with robbery with a dangerous weapon, assault with a deadly weapon, inflicting serious injury and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was placed in Durham County Jail in lieu of a $40,000 bond.
Bloodworth was later identified as a suspect in an Aug. 27 carjacking in the parking lot of Target on Chapel Hill Boulevard. Police said a woman was getting in her vehicle when a male armed with a knife approached her, knocked her to the ground and pulled a knife before stealing her 2003 Toyota Prius. A nearby surveillance camera captured the incident.
Bloodworth's alleged crime spree began on Aug. 24 in a parking lot on East Lakewood Avenue. Police said a 53-year-old woman was leaving her car when a man wielding a knife approached her, dragged her out of the car by her ankles and stole her 1996 burgundy Infiniti. The woman suffered minor injuries.
Two days later, a 66-year-old Spring Lake woman told police that a man in a burgundy Infiniti pulled up next to her on South Miami Boulevard, approached her car and took her purse. The assailant then threw the woman's Chihuahua out of the car, injuring the dog's head. The man fled with the victim's purse, said police.
Police said the stolen Infiniti was also spotted at the sites of several beer thefts throughout Durham on Aug. 26 and 27. The car was recovered on South Roxboro Street on Aug. 27, shortly before the attack in the Target parking lot.
On Sept. 2, Carrboro police officers spotted the stolen Prius from the Target carjacking parked in a fire lane near a convenience store. According to police, a man came out of the store with stolen beer and sped away when officers attempted to stop the car. After a pursuit, the suspect crashed the Prius and then escaped the scene.
After Bloodworth's arrest and linkage to the Target parking lot robbery, investigators connected him to the carjacking on Lakewood Avenue, the robbery on South Miami Boulevard, the chase in Carrboro and five larcenies at Durham convenience stores.
Bloodworth has been charged with two counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon, one count of common-law robbery, felony cruelty to animals, two counts of possession of a stolen vehicle and five counts of misdemeanor larceny. He is also facing traffic charges resulting from the Carrboro chase.
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