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Police: N.C. man kidnaps family, forces them to shop at Target

By Ray Downs
File photo by Brian Kersey/UPI
File photo by Brian Kersey/UPI | License Photo

June 22 (UPI) -- A North Carolina man kidnapped a family and forced them to take him shopping at Target, police said.

Durham police said Rollin Anthony Owens Jr. knocked on the door of a home early Tuesday and asked the residents for money. When they gave him some cash, he pulled out a gun on the family of four -- two adults and two small children -- and forced them to go to an ATM at a convenience store.

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After the ATM stop, he then forced the family to go to Target. While there, one of the family members asked a store clerk for help undetected. A police officer happened to be in the parking lot at the time and arrested Owens.

Owens is facing charges including robbery with a dangerous weapon, second-degree kidnapping, assault inflicting serious injury and assault by pointing a gun, felony larceny, breaking and entering, obtaining property by false pretense and trespassing.

Some of the charges stem from three other incidents that police believe he may have been involved in, including beating a man on the head with his gun and then forcing him to go to an ATM and buy cigarettes.

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Owens is also suspected of knocking on a door at 6:45 a.m. on Tuesday and asking another resident for money. When the resident refused, Owens allegedly grabbed his coffee, took a sip, complained that it was too sweet and then put a gun to the victim's head.

However, when a car drove by, Owens ran away.

A North Carolina judge set Owens' bond at $1 million, but prosecutors asked for a $2 million bond.

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