911 caller describes attack on woman outside Raleigh supermarket

Raleigh police said they believe Thomas Joseph Stamps, 53, of Wake Forest, attacked a 19-year-old woman outside the Harris Teeter in the Falls Pointe shopping center, at 9600 Falls of Neuse Road, around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The worker said that he checked out the woman's groceries and she left, only to come running back in a few minutes later.

"She came back screaming, asking for help. She had a bloody lip," the worker said. "Apparently, somebody hit her in the face, and she's very, very terrified."

Some employees comforted the woman, who was able to give a detailed description of the stranger who attacked her. She said the man punched her in the face and nose, and "he just said, 'Shut up,'" the worker said.

Meanwhile, two store managers and bystanders ran outside to look for the woman's assailant.

In the 911 call, there's a bustle, and then the caller says his co-workers have caught the suspect.

"We have our manager outside, and he said apparently they caught him somewhere, and they're waiting for the police," the caller said. "Him and three other men have him on the side of the road."

Police took the suspect, identified as Stamps, into custody, and paramedics treated the woman.

Stamps was charged with second-degree kidnapping and assault on a female. He was being held in the Wake County jail under a $251,500 bond.