Tom MacCallum

Richmond County Daily Journal

A couple willing to give two men a ride were later kidnapped, the man beaten, woman assaulted, and they were robbed, Rockingham police said.

At 4 p.m. Friday outside a convenience store on Roberdel Road, Rockingham, police said two men approached a couple offering $5 for gas if they would give them a ride.

The men then directed them to a park off Richmond Road, police said.

Once there, the 22-year-old man told police a suspect punched him in the back of his head and dragged him from the vehicle.

Police said the 21-year-old woman said she was dragged from the vehicle and placed with her face on the ground and told to put her hands over her eyes.

Police said the two suspects then focused on the man, demanding all his money and beat him with a crowbar, which had been in a plastic bag one suspect had with him.

From the man, the suspects stole over $65 worth of personal property. From the woman, they stole a gold chain necklace.

The two suspects forced the woman, police said, to drive them away from the park, told her to stop, got out and ran.

The woman then went back to the man and took him to FirstHealth Richmond Memorial Hospital for treatment.

Police are searching for two suspects wanted for armed robbery, kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury and assault on a female.

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Other incidents reported to police include:

n Thomas Lee Johnson, 47, South Stewart Street, Rockingham, was arrested on a misdemeanor order for arrest on charges of simple affray and failure to show cause. Bond was set at $181.

n At a residence on Bryan Street, Rockingham, someone did $150 damage to a window and stole $375 worth of property.

n Alex Keith Bullard, 31, Boyd Lake Road, Hamlet, was arrested on a charge of obtaining controlled substances by fraud from a pharmacy. Bond was set at $1,000.

n Octavius Markell McRae, 19, Hamer Mill Road, Rockingham, was arrested on misdemeanor charges of failure to heed a blue light and siren, five counts of a stop sign violation and two counts of a left of center charge, speeding to elude and careless and reckless driving. Bond was set at $6,000.

n At a building at Pine Ridge Crossing Shopping Center, someone did some $1,200 damage to windows.

n Steven Alexander Knight, 20, St. Stephen’s Church Road, Rockingham, was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of simple possession of marijuana. Bond was set at $500.

n A computer valued at $200 was stolen from a house on Armstead Street, Rockingham.

n William Donald Barber, 48, Quail Hollow Drive, Hamlet, was arrested on a citation on a misdemeanor charge of larceny.

n A store at Falling Creek Plaza Shopping Center found a counterfeit $20 bill in store receipts.

n A man on Adginora Lane, Rockingham, said he heard a noise in another room in his house, found a man in the room, who then crawled out through a window.