Raleigh man accused of rape after convenience store encounter
Police have arrested a Raleigh man who's accused of kidnapping and raping a woman over the weekend.
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Investigators said Venable Lee Stewart, 45, of 420 Peyton St., was panhandling at a convenience store on Rock Quarry Road Saturday night when he approached the 21-year-old woman, jumped into her car, told her he had a gun and forced her to drive to a secluded area, where he raped her.
She was able to escape about 90 minutes after the man kidnapped her when she pulled into a store parking lot, jumped from her car and ran, police said. Stewart, they said, also ran from the scene.
He was arrested Tuesday night on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard while allegedly breaking into a car.
Police charged him with rape, kidnapping, sexual offense, attempted rape and armed robbery – all first-degree charges – in the Saturday incident.
Stewart also faces charges of breaking and entering into a motor vehicle, larceny and possession of drug paraphernalia in the car break-in.
He was in the Wake County jail Thursday under a $460,000 bond.
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