Chapel Hill kidnap suspect charged in Pitt County case

Theodore James Walker, 26, of 108 Timber Hollow Court, was charged with felony hit-and-run causing injury in the Pitt County case. His trial was set for June 28.

A Pitt County deputy found a 20-year-old woman unconscious on the side of a road on April 3, and she was hospitalized for a head injury and various cuts and scrapes.

Witnesses recalled seeing the woman outside a nearby strip club waiting to leave with a man identified as Walker, Pitt County Sheriff Mac Manning has said. Walker told investigators that the woman jumped out of his car at 30 mph after trying to grab his keys and shut off the ignition, but he declined to say why he didn't stop to help the woman, the sheriff has said.

The woman declined to press charges, telling investigators the incident was an accident, Manning has said. The sheriff's office reopened the case last week after Walker was arrested in Chapel Hill.

Chapel Hill police said he tried to abduct an 18-year-old woman last Wednesday afternoon near the intersection of Rosemary and Columbia streets. Two brothers intervened, and the woman escaped unharmed, but one of the brothers was injured as the assailant drove off and hit him with his car.

The license number of the car was traced to Walker, and investigators found a loaded shotgun and a baseball bat inside the car and condoms in his pants pocket, authorities said.

Police seized a University of North Carolina identification card, pepper spray, a knife, a video camera and pornographic DVDs from Walker's home, according to search warrants.

UNC-Chapel Hill officials said Walker was enrolled as a non-degree student from August 2000 to May 2001, earning six continuing education credits.

Walker is charged with second-degree kidnapping, assault on a female and assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury in the Chapel Hill case. He is being held in the Orange County jail under a $5 million bond.

Chapel Hill police also are looking into the claims that Walker recently tried to get two teens to get into his vehicle, prosecutors said. The teens ran off, and they told police they recognized Walker after seeing his photo in news reports of the Chapel Hill kidnapping.