String of robberies nets suspect $3 million bond

James Kelvin Medlin has 87 outstanding warrants on common law robbery charges.

Posted 1:43 p.m. Jan 25, 2013 — Updated 3:21 a.m. Jan 26, 2013

RALEIGH, N.C. — An Apex man was arrested late Thursday in a string of robberies and assaults targeting the elderly that date to August, police said.

James Kelvin Medlin, 55, of 4700 Turnbuckle Court, was taken into custody by Raleigh Police Department and Wake County Sheriff's Office personnel during a traffic stop following the latest of those robberies, which occurred about 6 p.m. in 1400 block of Kershaw Drive in Raleigh.

Police said a 90-year-old man was robbed of cash at gunpoint after he returned home from running errands.

The man told a 911 dispatcher that the gunman was in his garage as he got out of the car, ordered him inside and took cash from his wallet and his wife's purse.

"He said, 'Do not call police. I know where you live,'" the man told this dispatcher, adding that he was afraid the gunman was watching his house when police arrived to investigate.

Medlin faces 32 charges in the series of attacks, including six counts each of felony breaking and entering, second-degree kidnapping and robbery with a dangerous weapon, four counts of assault on a female, two counts each of common law robbery, attempted first-degree rape, first-degree kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon and one count each of sexual battery and simple assault.

District Court Judge Jacqueline Brewer raised Medlin's bond from $1.5 million to $3 million during a Friday afternoon court appearance. A magistrate told the judge that Medlin has 87 outstanding warrants on common law robbery charges in older, unrelated cases.

Law enforcement agencies in Raleigh, Wake County, Cary and Apex said a man has repeatedly targeted the elderly for robberies since August, many times as they returned to their homes from shopping.

On Aug. 17, a 70-year-old woman returning to her home on Holland Hills Drive near Fuquay-Varina said a man entered her home and demanded money.
On Aug. 20, a 96-year-old woman was grabbed outside her home on Caldwell Drive in Raleigh and was robbed of cash.
On Aug. 24, an 85-year-old woman said a man armed with a sharp-edged weapon entered her home on Meredith Street in Raleigh and robbed her of cash.
On Aug. 28, a 77-year-old man was forced into his home on Daniels Street in Raleigh and robbed of cash.
On Nov. 30, a knife or other sharp-edged weapon was used to rob an 87-year-old man on Shamrock Drive.
On Dec. 6, an 84-year-old woman was forced inside her home on Olive Street in Apex by a man with a knife, and he threatened to rape her and assault her 86-year-old husband before fleeing with cash.

Cary police said they expect to charge Medlin in connection with at least two similar cases.

"In the scheme of things, if the person persists on hurting people, he has to be removed from society and punished or whatever you want," said Daniel Farkas, who was robbed on Aug. 28.

Farkas, who was thrown to the ground repeatedly during the attack, said he's not yet sure whether Medlin is the man who robbed him.

Medin's criminal record dates to the mid-1970s and includes convictions for breaking and entering, robbery, larceny, forgery and attempted rape, according to state Division of Adult Correction records. He completed his probation in September 2011 for his most recent convictions.

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