College student to sue grocery store after alleged rape

CARROLLTON, Ga. - A Georgia college student plans to sue a major grocery chain after she was allegedly kidnapped and raped.

The victim's attorney told FOX 5 News she believes it could have been prevented if there was more security at the Carrolton Kroger.

Jaila Gladden said she gets through each day by focusing on her studies. She has another year before she graduates from the University of West Georgia.

She contacted FOX 5 News to tell her story publicly as a warning to others. She wants everyone to know they have to be alert, even if it’s just a trip to the grocery store.

Gladden says last September she was leaving the Kroger in Carrollton when a man forced her into her own car at knifepoint. Police later identified the man as Timothy Wilson.

Gladden said he told her he needed money.

“He told me we were going to rob a gas station so he could get gas money so he could take me and him to Michigan,” said Gladden.

Gladden said they drove to Atlanta and at one point forced her into the trunk of the car. She said he later pulled into a church parking lot where he raped her.

Gladden managed to secretly text her boyfriend and family and called 911. Atlanta Police spotted the car at Kroger on Monroe Drive. Authorities said there was a short chase in which Wilson crashed into several cars, then took off on foot. He was captured ten hours later.

Gladden’s attorney said they plan to file a lawsuit against Kroger alleging there wasn’t proper security.

“Businesses have an obligation to do what is reasonably appropriate to protect their customer from crime,” said attorney Rod Dixon.

Wilson is in jail charged with rape, false imprisonment, and aggravated assault. He faces additional charges in Carrollton for kidnapping, hijacking a motor vehicle and aggravated assault.

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