Crime has doubled in recent years in Raleigh block where woman kidnapped

Two men in black hoodies and ski masks, one who was armed with a semi-automatic handgun, tried to kidnap a man and woman outside an apartment complex on Marcom Street around 10 p.m. Sunday night.

The victims, a man and a woman, lived together inside a unit at "The Grove."

The suspects tried to kidnap both; however, the man was able to escape.

"I heard a girl screaming 'wait, wait, wait,'" said neighbor Morgan Peeples, who looked out her window.

Bianca Hopkins, who was standing by her car when the kidnapping occurred, said, "It was like a movie. Something you'd see in a movie."

She says one of the men grabbed the woman, and the last thing she saw was his arm around her neck and a gun to her lower back. The woman was then forced into a white Chevrolet SUV, possibly an Equinox, which then sped off.

Police said the woman was later found in Durham, unharmed. Police do not believe this was a random act.

Peeples said she's seen plenty of fights outside The Grove apartments, and she's used to seeing police called.

"I'm so conditioned to hearing drama, seeing drama out there," she said.

WRAL Data Trackers found that in the past two years, reports of crime have jumped on this block of Marcom Street. There were 46 reports last year, and 45 the year before -- roughly double the 23 incidents reported in 2019.

Most of the crimes reported were assaults.

Erin Young moved in six months ago and says she feels reasonably safe – but she says police are called a lot.

"I think it's just because people get into arguments in the parking lot," she says.

However, after last night's kidnapping, Hopkins worries about her children – especially her son, who saw the gun.

"I have two kids. My son looked at the guy with the gun. He doesn't need to see anything like that. And they're scared for their lives, too," she says.

N.C. State sent out a safety alert to notify students. No one involved in the incident was associated with the university. Police did not give details on what might have led to the kidnapping.

Anyone with information about what happened is asked to call the Raleigh Police Department at 919-878-3561 or 911.