Kidnapping Victim Thought She 'Was Probably Going to Die'

RALEIGH, N.C. — A mother who said she was kidnapped along with her 5-year-old daughter Wednesday is speaking out about what she calls a terrifying ordeal.

The woman, who asked that her identity not be revealed, said she and her 5-year-old daughter stopped for pizza at the Tower Shopping Center Wednesday night when they came in contact with Omar Sharpe.

Sharpe, 26, of Wilmington, was arrested Thursday and held under a $4.8 million bond in connection with a recent string of rapes, robberies and kidnappings in Raleigh. He could also face additional charges in Wilmington, authorities there said.

When the woman and her daughter got back in their SUV to leave Wednesday, Sharpe was waiting in the back seat, she said. He pointed a gun at the woman’s head and forced her to drive to an ATM in the shopping center, she said.

She said her biggest concern was for her young daughter. Sharpe was sitting right next to the 5-year-old in the back seat, the woman said.

“He had a gun. My daughter was there. I wasn’t going to do anything to run away, because I wasn’t going to leave my daughter there by herself,” she said.

After about 30 minutes, Sharpe took the cash and let the woman and her daughter go, she said. Police said this was his last crime in a spree that started June 16.

Sharpe later returned to the scene of the crime and officers detained him. The woman said she feels good that he is behind bars.